Worker Killed in Silo Collapse at Former WV Mine Site
Source Firehouse.com News
A worker was killed when a silo collapsed and trapped him in a piece of equipment at a former West Virginia mine site Wednesday.
The incident happened just after 5:30 p.m. at a former mine site in Hobet, the Danville Volunteer Fire Department stated in an online update. Workers had been decommissioning and removing tipple from the site for several months.
A silo at the mine collapsed, and an excavator became entangled in the debris. A worker, 73, was trapped in the excavator, and the West Virginia Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue team was called in.
At 1739 hours on Wednesday, 28 April 2021, the Danville Volunteer Fire Department, with automatic aid assistance from...
Posted by Danville Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. on Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Two members of that rescue team were able to reach the worker, but he was dead by the time they found him. The worker's body was extracted without a further collapse.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased," the Danville Volunteer Fire Department stated. "Southern West Virginia takes pride in our coal heritage and a loss of this magnitude is never easy to bear."
Along with the Danville department and the USAR team, crews from South Charleston, Charleston and Madison fire departments, as well as members from the Boone County Emergency Management Agency and Boone County Ambulance Authority, also responded to the incident.
