US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere confirmed for International Longwall News that its District 11 office was contacted following an accident at 2.25pm local time at the Shoal Creek mine in Adger, Jefferson County.

“According to [its] report, the contractor was shutting down the operation due to a passing lightning storm when a strike occurred and resulted in an ignition,” she said, adding that several workers have reportedly been burned.

The mine has been evacuated and all miners accounted for, Louviere verified, “except for examiners in remote areas”, and noted that district representatives were en route to the site as of the agency’s latest update at 3.45pm EDT. She also confirmed that not all persons at the mine have yet reached the surface.

With regards to injuries, Louviere told ILN: “One person at the raise-bore site was seriously burned and is being life-flighted to a hospital. Three others are being transported by ambulance to a hospital.

“Eight others were examined by EMTs [emergency medical technicians] for smoke inhalation but declined medical attention; one person suffered an ankle injury,” she said of the Shoal Creek wounded worker tally.

The agency has learned that Drummond has personnel monitoring all fans at the complex for possible combustion gases, but no information is available at this time on the results. “Technical support is being consulted,” Louviere said.

Earlier this week, the operation was cleared following damage to a ventilation wall. Drummond Coal vice-president Mike Tracy told media at the time that it was reopened the same afternoon.

“It isn't common, but it's not all that unusual," he said. "There was small backup of methane, so we evacuated."

The mine, which had planned a permanent shutdown, closed for two months and then reopened in February of this year citing successful reclamation efforts. At that time it recalled 430 of its initial 450 workers, the Birmingham News noted, and now retains 125 salaried employees.