The following was compiled from various news sources.


Three Dead in Southern Indiana Mine Accident
Friday August 10, 2007

Princeton, Indiana — An accident at an airshaft under construction in a southern Indiana coal mine killed three people Friday, according to local police. The incident happened around 11:00 AM CDT, or Noon EDT, at a deep mine operated by Gibson County Coal Company. Work to replace the airshaft, located at the face of the mine, was occurring at the time of the accident, said mine superintendent Jim Browne.

"We're not sure if it was an equipment problem or what at this point," said Detective Mike Hurt of the Princeton Police Department. He said the construction workers died in a basket used to transport people up and down a 600-foot long airshaft, but he could not say whether they fell. Authorities said that the deaths were not caused by a cave-in or an explosion. Crews were working to remove the bodies from the mine after the late-morning accident, Sgt. Jay Riley said.

The mine, owned by Alliance Resource Partners, LLP, a company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is northwest of Princeton, about 30 miles north of Evansville. The construction workers were employed by Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc., of Evansville, Indiana. The mine, the fourth-largest coal producer in the eastern United States, was opened in 2000 and has a capacity of 700 tons an hour. In November of 2001, a "fatal machinery accident" occurred at the facility, according to a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration report.