US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Amy Louviere told ILN Wednesday that a section supervisor and longwall utility man were both on the longwall section when a high-pressure hydraulic hose ruptured.
“The section supervisor was struck in the face, resulting in minor lacerations, [and] the utility man was struck in the abdominal area,” she said, adding that the force of the break shoved the utility man and caused him to fall and fracture his arm.
While various media outlets reported that both men remained hospitalized Monday evening at 11pm local time, the agency noted that the foreman did not lose work time from the incident.
The utility man was transported to Ruby Memorial in Morgantown for surgery on his elbow, though it is not known if he remains there.
Louviere told ILN that MSHA’s investigation into the incident had commenced.
The 450-worker Century operation and its nearby sister mine, Ohio Valley No. 6, both longwall operations, are located in Monroe and Belmont counties in southeast Ohio.
Earlier Monday, another Murray Energy worker was injured at an Illinois underground mine. While his name was also not released, various local media outlets said that a bulldozer operator at the New Freedom mine in Saline county had received arm burns underground just before 8am local time.
