In the span of barely a week, a second Kentucky coal miner has been killed in an underground mining operation. The death of Bobby Smith in a James River Coal Company mine near Hazard on April 24 brings to 39 the number of coal miners killed so far this year.
Smith, a 29-year-old Vicco, Kentucky, resident, was operating a continuous mining machine in the Leeco 68 underground coal mine near the town of Jeff in Perry County. At around 1:15 p.m., according to a preliminary report from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Smith was caught between the machine and the rib of the wall and crushed. Smith was transported to the surface, then taken to the hospital in Hazard, where he was pronounced dead. Few other details have been released as of this writing.
The Leeco 68 mine is part of a complex owned by James River Coal Company in Knott and Perry counties in southeastern Kentucky. MSHA records show 25 injury accidents at the mine since 2008, and two roof falls. Leeco 68 has been cited by federal inspectors more than 360 times so far in 2010, including more than 40 in the past month.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/kent-j26.shtml