The five miners who lost their lives in Kentucky Darby’s Darby No. 1 mine all donned CSE SR-100 packs, Kentucky Mine Safety and Licensing spokesperson Holly McCoy told the Associated Press. The SR-100 is the same model available to miners in the Sago explosion in January of this year.
While preliminary autopsy reports reflect carbon monoxide as the probable cause of death for three of the miners, Harlan County coroner Philip Blanchi told the news service Sunday that the other two miners died from heat injuries and blunt force trauma.
He added that the three workers who suffered poisoning were likely to have survived the explosion, and that investigators may be able to determine how long they survived afterwards. Blanchi offered no indication to the media of when the autopsy reports would be completed.
Crews were working to restore Darby’s ventilation Monday, AP said, so that investigators could begin searching for the cause of the explosion. Meanwhile, the spotlight remains on the reliability of the SCSRs at the operation.
“The survivor of the Darby No. 1 mine explosion informed MSHA [Mine Safety and Health Administration] investigators that his SCSR functioned properly and that he used it throughout his escape from the mine,” said MSHA acting administrator David Dye in a media statement today.
“Rescue workers who encountered [him] during his escape independently corroborated that the survivor was using his SCSR when they encountered him.”
Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher appeared on US morning news show Good Morning America regarding the explosion and the SCSRs. “We have to look and make sure this is the best technology available for the miners,” he said.
It remains to be seen, however, if any level of technology would have helped in the Darby explosion. Said United Mine Workers of America spokesperson Phil Smith to AP Monday: “It does sound like they didn’t have enough oxygen readily at hand.”
The five Darby fatalities include Amon Brock, 51, Roy Middleton, 35, Jimmy Lee, 33, George William Petra, 49, and Paris Thomas Jr, 53. The sole survivor, Paul Ledford, exited the mine on his own and was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released.
Ten miners have died in 2006 in Kentucky, and the US death toll for the year now stands at 31.
