SWISS, W.Va. — The search for a missing miner from the Alpha Metallurgical Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County is continuing around the clock according to Governor Patrick Morrisey.
Morrisey gave an update Monday evening. He said the worker — who went missing when the mine flooded Saturday afternoon — was a foreman.
The update said that several million gallons of water has been pumped from the mine since Saturday and about 2.7 million gallons remain before rescuers can safely enter.
Morrisey’s update went on to say that Alpha is partnering with outside companies to drill from the surface in an effort to create more access points so a capsule drill can be used.
Morrisey appeared on MetroNews Midday on Monday afternoon to speak about the situation. He says it’s been a challenge to find workers equipped to perform the dangerous and unique search.
Since Saturday, three sets of dive teams have alternated entering the flooded entries in search for the miner.
“There have been multiple dive teams who have gone down and that’s a very difficult thing to do. I’ve been talking to people across the country and even folks in the federal government to try and find more people with the kind of expertise who could be engaged in the diving aspect of it and the mine rescue side of the equation. Then of course there are a lot of other environmental challenges on the ground,” Morrisey said.
Nicholas County Commissioner Garrett Cole told MetroNews that this has been a long nearly three days.
“It seems like it’s such a horrible waiting game,” Cole said. “There are resources going in and out of the mine, the dive crews are working through what they can work through, but it’s just a tedious process.”
Morrisey, in his Monday evening update, asked all West Virginia residents to keep the foreman, his family, and members of the rescue team in their prayers.