WASHINGTON, D.C. — Investigators with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration have released an initial report on a mining fatality in Boone County from earlier this month.
Aaron Warrix, 53, was killed at the Panther Eagle Mine near Whitesville in Raleigh County. The mine is owned by Marfork Coal Company, a subsidiary of Alpha Metallurgical Resources. According to investigators Warrix, who was a shuttle car operator, was installing turn posts on a retreat mining section. Officials say while setting the timbers a large rock dislodged from the roof between two bolts and came down on tip of him.
MORE see preliminary report here
According to investigators, Warrix was a 23-year coal mining veteran and had been at that mine for nearly six years.
The accident happened around 5 p.m. on April 2.
According to MSHA, it’s the seventh fatality reported in 2026, and the first classified as “Fall of Roof or Back.”
MSHA investigators will take several months before issuing a final report on the accident.