GRAFTON, W.Va. — Two Taylor County coal miners suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries in a Tuesday morning underground rib fall.
According to state Office of Mine Safety Health and Training spokesman Larry Messina, the fall happened at the Leer Mine near Grafton in Taylor County.
The accident was reported at about just before 4 a.m. The miners were midnight shift mechanics working on the longwall mining machine when the fall occurred.
Messina said the miners were removed from the mine. They were taken by HealthNet Helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. One of them underwent surgery Tuesday morning. Both miners were said to be in stable condition.
State and federal mine safety investigators were called to the scene.
Arch Coal owns the Leer Mine, a longwall operation that began production in late 2011.