On the day of the accident, approximately 50 truck loads of dirt had been removed from the embankment resulting in a 20-foot high cut. A hauler operator noticed material falling from the cut when he arrived at the site around 10:20 a.m., however, the end- loader operator could not be located. Help was summoned and after 90 minutes of manually removing dirt from between the end- loader and the embankment the victim was recovered.
This is the seventh coal mine fatality in 1995. As of March 28 last year, there had been 11 fatalities. This death is the fifth classified as POWERED HAULAGE in 1995.
For more information:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL95C07]