2 W.Va. miners die in roof collapse; bodies recovered

CUCUMBER, W.Va. (AP) _ A roof collapsed in a mine Saturday morning, killing two miners, authorities said. <br/><br/>The miners apparently were caught when a pillar fell, said Ron Wooten, director of the

Saturday, January 13th 2007, 2:22 pm

By: News On 6

CUCUMBER, W.Va. (AP) _ A roof collapsed in a mine Saturday morning, killing two miners, authorities said.

The miners apparently were caught when a pillar fell, said Ron Wooten, director of the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training. Wooten said rescuers were bringing their bodies to the surface.

``There's no need for rescue teams, the individuals have been recovered,'' he said.

Dispatchers said the accident scene was up to 1 1/2 miles beyond the entrance to the Brooks Run Mining Co. LLC's mine in McDowell County, about 90 miles west of Roanoke, Va.

Additional details weren't immediately available. Wooten expected to learn more once a team of investigators returned from underground. Federal mine safety investigators were also on the scene.

The federal Mine Safety & Health Administration was ``saddened by the tragic accident'' and would work closely with the state to find out the cause, said agency director Richard Stickler.

Brooks Run is a subsidiary of Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural Resources LLC. The mine began operating in 2004. In October, a miner was killed in a wall collapse at Alpha's Whitetail Kittanning Mine in Newburg.

A call to the mine went unanswered Saturday and a company spokesman didn't immediately return a message.

The Brooks Run mine produced 375,665 tons of coal last year. Federal inspectors cited it 65 times in 2006 and proposed penalties totaling $5,000, according to the MSHA's Web site.

The deaths are the first in West Virginia's coal mines this year and the second and third in the nation. A miner was killed Jan. 6 at a Colorado mine, according to MSHA.

Last year, 47 miners _ 24 of them from West Virginia _ died in the nation's coal mines. The toll was the highest since 1995. The deaths included 12 men killed in an explosion last year at the Sago Mine in Upshur County. Also last January, two miners died in a fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County.

In China, an underground gas explosion in a coal mine killed 13 people and injured nine, a news report said Saturday. The cause of the blast was under investigation. China has the world's deadliest coal mines, with more than 5,000 fatalities a year in fires, floods and other disasters.