Kentucky Office of Communication and public Outreach executive director Dick Brown told ILN that the state’s office of Mine Licensing and Safety provided it with a list of injuries from last Thursday’s incident, which included a broken pelvis, bruised ribs, sutures to a worker’s right side, a compound lower right leg fracture, a fractured right knee cap and a broken sacrum/pelvis.
The agency also released the names, positions and experience levels at the mine of the very young crew of eight, four of whom remained hospitalised at local medical facilities on Thursday. Brown said that, due to privacy regulations, the specific injuries sustained by each could not be publicly released.
The group included:
Robby Turner, 22, roof bolter operator, 1 year experience,
John Wooten, 28, roof bolter operator, 4 months,
James Arnold, 23, roof bolter operator, 1.5 years,
William Alloway, 25, mechanic, 2 months,
Robert Willett, 23, utility man, 5 months (released),
David Miller, 29, roof bolter operator, 11 months (released),
Donald Pearson, 25, scoop operator, 15 months (released), and
Blake Stewart, 22, scoop operator, 1 year (released).
All of the men were injured at the Muhlenberg County room and pillar operation after a mantrip travelling down a slope was wrecked due to a brake malfunction.
While the office did not offer any other details about the incident, one miner’s relative told local television station WFIE-TV last week that the personnel carrier was travelling at about 70 miles per hour and on a 7-degree slope when it crashed. His son-in-law, Pearson, has been back to the emergency room of a local hospital twice for neurological issues as well as sustained shoulder and knee damage.
Rob Murray, spokesperson for KenAmerican and parent company Murray Energy, confirmed for ILN that the mine resumed production last weekend but noted it had no further comment about the injuries or response to the state’s claim.
The last public comment from the mine was a prepared statement released just after the incident last week, when it noted that no injuries were life-threatening.
US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Amy Louviere told ILN that the agency does not comment on the conditions of miners recovering from a mine accident. She did confirm that a federal investigation was ongoing but could not speculate on the status or probability of any violations.
