COAL MINE FATALITY - On Sunday, May 5, 1996, a truck
driver, operating a large rock truck, was hauling overburden from the
surface mine pit to a backfill location. When the truck driver backed
the truck to edge of the backfill site, the truck continued over the
edge, and rolled into the abandoned pit 175 feet below. The truck
driver was thrown from the truck and received fatal injuries.
This is the 16th coal mine fatality in 1996. As of May 5 of last
year there had been 12 fatalities. This death is the sixth classified as
POWERED HAULAGE in 1996.
Photographs of the accident scene
For more information:
MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL95C16]