Search teams have recovered the body of the mine worker who had been unaccounted for after a West Virginia mine flooded on the weekend, according to the governor on Thursday.
The remains 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 team of miners had encountered an unexpected pocket of water last Saturday about 1.2 kilometers into the mine, which filled with water after an historic barrier gave way, officials said. More than a dozen other miners were safely evacuated after the accident was notified.
Previous Deaths at Mining Facilities
This death marks the third at a company operation in the state this year. The other two took place in nearby Raleigh county: one incident in the eighth month when an elevator being inspected struck a miner on a ground-level area, and another in February when a coal seam collapsed on a subcontracted employee at a separate location.
Search and Rescue Attempts
Holes were drilled in the mine in an effort to speed up the search process, and dive teams explored potential areas in the water where air pockets might exist. Advanced communication tools were supplied to enable better underground communication over long ranges.
Mine Background
The mine in question is one of 11 subsurface operations managed in the state by the headquartered in Tennessee company. The firm also runs multiple open-pit sites in the region, as well as other mining locations in neighboring Virginia.
The governor said that the disused site next to Rolling Thunder had been in use during the 1930s and 1940s.
Engineering Report
A study completed in the winter for the operator by an technical advisory group stated that the region had been “extensively explored” by previous mine owners, generating substantial archival information that was reviewed in evaluating its potential for producing coal.
The same report says that the mineral deposit runs parallel to and beneath the drainage of a local stream, but said there were “no significant hydrologic concerns” affecting extraction activities.
