HOLMES MILL, Ky. — An explosion in an eastern Kentucky coal mine killed five miners Saturday, Gov. Ernie Fletcher said. A sixth miner was able to walk away from the blast and out of the mine on his own.
The blast at the Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County occurred between midnight and 1 a.m. EDT while a maintenance shift was on duty, said Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. It was the latest in a string of mine accidents to hit U.S. coal country this year.
The five dead miners were found by rescue workers, the governor said. The rescue teams initially found three dead workers and later found two more, he said.
Fletcher said he had contacted the families of the killed workers.
"They want answers — how, why, what caused it — that will help them deal with it a little more," he said.
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Authorities identified the victims as Amon Brock, 51, of Closplint; Jimmy D. Lee, of Wallins Creek; Roy Middleton, 35, of Evarts; George William Petra, of Kenvir; and Paris Thomas Jr., also of Evarts. The ages of Lee, Petra and Thomas were not immediately available.
The survivor, identified as Paul Ledford, was taken to Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, Va., where he was treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Amy Stevens said.
Fletcher said Ledford was closer to the mine's exit than his co-workers. It was not clear how many workers were on duty when the blast occurred, but Louviere said no production was going on at the time.
The underground mine, operated by Kentucky Darby LLC, is about 250 miles southeast of Louisville in a mountainous area near the Virginia border. A man who answered the phone at a Kentucky Darby office declined to comment Saturday, saying the company was too busy.
Since Kentucky Darby took over as operator in May 2001, there had been 10 injuries but no deaths at the mine until Saturday's explosion, according to statistics on the federal mine-safety Web site.
Relatives of the miners gathered before dawn at the Cloverfork Missionary Baptist Church near the mine to await word about their loved ones. State and federal mine officials informed the family members of the deaths, said Mike Blair, the church's pastor.
"There's just a lot of heartbroken people," he said.
Local magistrate Chad Brock said the deaths would touch many lives.
"There's not going to be a family that's not affected in some way," he said. "You either know them or you're kin to them."
United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts urged state and federal mine officials to "redouble their inspection and enforcement activities, starting now."
"This tragedy only compounds what has already been a horrific year in America's coal mines," Roberts said in a statement.
Mine safety issues have been a key concern of lawmakers ever since two accidents in January killed 14 West Virginia coal miners.
A list of the 31 coal mine fatalities so far this year:
● Jan. 2: 12 killed after explosion near Buckhannon, W.Va.
● Jan. 10: One killed in roof collapse in Pikeville, Ky.
● Jan. 19: Two killed in fire in Melville, W.Va.
● Jan. 23: One killed in surface mine accident in Kentucky.
● Jan. 29: One killed after being struck by a piece of coal near Price, Utah.
● Feb. 1: Two killed in separate mines in Boone County, W.Va. In one accident, a bulldozer struck a gas line at a surface mine and sparked a fire; a wall support failure caused the other death.
● Feb. 16: One killed in rock fall near Hazard, Ky.
● Feb. 17: One killed in accident in Maryland.
● March 29: One killed after accident in Alabama.
● April 7: Two killed in separate mines in West Virginia. One miner was pulled into a conveyor system near Wharton; rock and roof support material fell on the other near Naugutack.
● April 20: One killed when part of pillar collapses in Pike County, Ky.
● April 21: One crushed by a machine in Holmes Mill, Ky.
● May 20: Five killed in explosion at separate mine in Holmes Mill, Ky.
SOURCE: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration
