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Company spokesperson Ross Mazza said that a group of workers at its Flint Ridge No. 2 operation in Breathitt County had just boarded a rubber-tired mantrip on October 10 at the mine surface when the incident occurred.
“The mantrip was in reverse, struck a berm on the surface and overturned,” he said.
“All nine workers were taken to the hospital and seven have been treated and released with only minor injuries.”
Two workers, identified by local media as James Harris and Chris Gibson, were airlifted to other medical facilities with more serious injuries.
Mazza told ILN Tuesday morning that both appeared to be in a stable condition with non-life threatening injuries.
ICG has begun investigating the incident, and said the event was reported in a timely manner to the US Mine Safety and Health Administration as required by law.
“Investigators are at the scene to determine why the mantrip rolled back,” Kentucky state mine safety office spokesperson Dick Brown told .
According to ICG, the Flint Ridge complex includes one underground room and pillar mine, and one preparation plant. The mine’s total production in 2009 was 800,000 tons.
