Body of Missing Coal Miner Located in Submerged West Virginia Coal Mine, State Leader Says
Rescue crews have recovered the remains of the coal miner who had been missing since a West Virginia mine was inundated with water on Saturday, according to the state’s governor on Thursday.
The body was discovered inside the Rolling Thunder Mine near the town of Belva, approximately 80 kilometers east of the capital city of the capital.
Information of the Incident
A mining crew had encountered an unknown water reservoir last Saturday about three-quarters of a mile into the underground site, which filled with water after an historic barrier “was compromised”, officials said. More than a dozen other miners were safely evacuated after the accident was reported.
Previous Fatalities at Company Sites
This death marks the third at a mining facility in the state this year. The previous two occurred in adjacent the county of Raleigh: a case in the eighth month when an lift being tested hit a worker on a first-floor platform, and another in February when a mineral layer fell on a contractor at another site.
Search and Rescue Attempts
Boreholes were created in the mine in an effort to speed up the search process, and underwater specialists searched potential areas in the water where pockets of air might be present. Advanced communication tools were provided to facilitate better underground communication over long ranges.
About the Mine
The Rolling Thunder is among eleven subsurface operations managed in West Virginia by the headquartered in Tennessee company. The firm also runs multiple open-pit sites in the region, as well as other underground and surface mines in neighboring Virginia.
The governor noted that the disused site next to the active mine had been in operation during the mid-20th century.
Consultant Assessment
A study prepared in February for the company by an technical advisory group stated that the area had been thoroughly investigated by previous mine owners, generating substantial archival information that was examined in evaluating its coal extraction prospects.
The same report notes that the Rolling Thunder coal seam runs along and below the drainage of a nearby creek, but said there were minimal water-related risks affecting extraction activities.
