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A 31-year old man has died in a Pennsylvania mining accident, this being the second fatal casualty in less than a year at the 4 West Coal mine from Green County.
The deadly incident occurred on Saturday, January 16, at approximately 6 p.m. and claimed the life of Jeremy R. Neice, hailing from Danville, West Virginia.
According to a representative of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the mine worker was crushed by debris that tumbled over him, trapping him beneath.
An emergency response team was promptly dispatched to the mining site, situated in the vicinity of Mount Morris, and around 50 miles away from Pittsburgh.
The rescuers managed to extract Neice from the pile of rubble, carried him outside the mine, and then drove him by ambulance to the nearest medical facility, Ruby Memorial Hospital, from Morgantown, West Virginia.
However, shortly after being admitted at the clinic, the young man, who had been severely injured in the mine accident, eventually succumbed to his wounds, being pronounced dead by medical personnel.
Following Neice’s demise, a press statement was made public by Brian M. Osborn, senior vice-president of engineering and support operations at Mepco, the company that owns the 4 West coal mine.
Osborn extended his condolences to the miner’s family, assuring them of Mepco’s support and sympathy, following their tragic and unexpected loss.
Apparently, work inside the coal mine has been halted, for the time being, as the entire incident is now being probed into by the Deep Mine Safety Division pertaining to Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, and by the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Mepco representatives have announced that they would offer local, state and federal investigators all the support that they require, in establishing the factors that brought about this distressing event.
Apparently, Neice is actually the second miner that perished at the 4 West coal extraction facility in less than a year. Another fatal accident took place on June 28 2015, as reported by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection.
At the time, 55-year old John W. Kelly, who had been employed at 4 West for around a decade, met his end while attempting to transport an interlock system comprising 2 airtight doors.
As the Albright native was maneuvering a diesel scoop in order to carry out this operation, the heavy frames collapsed on top of him, crushing him to death.
Image Source: NPR
