CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration announced Thursday 2019 had the fewest annual fatalities recorded in the agency’s history.
According to MSHA, 24 people died last year. The agency also said this is only the fifth year there were fewer than 30 mining fatalities.
West Virginia and Kentucky led the country in mining deaths with four deaths each.
Around half the deaths in 2017 and 2018 were related to vehicle-on-vehicle collisions, failure to use a functioning seat belt and conveyor belt incidents. In 2019, it was around 25% of all deaths.