Roof Bolter fatality at Bronzite III (Eastern Mingo Coal Company), WV, December 7, 1989

at 1:25 PM

On December 7, 1989, a roof bolter was fatally injured in a fall of roof or back accident at Bronzite III (Eastern Mingo Coal Company), WV.

Bronzite III · Underground · Coal

Operator: Eastern Mingo Coal Company (Shell Oil Company)

Mingo County, WV

Classification FALL OF ROOF OR BACK

Type Struck by falling object

Investigator narrative

EMPLOYEE WAS ROOF BOLTING ON 004 SECTION 4 LEFT CROSS CUT WHEN A PIECE OF ROCK MEASURING 4'9" X 8'2" X 0-6" THICK FELL INBY LAST ROW OF BOLTS BREAKING BACK INTO LAST ROW OF BOLTS 10" STRIKING EMPLOYEE ON TOP OF HEAD CAUSING FATAL INJURY DUE TO MASSIVE HEAD INJURY.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Walking, Running
Subunit / location: UNDERGROUND
Underground location: FACE
Mining method: Continuous Mining
Accident type: Struck by falling object
Source of injury: CAVING ROCK,COAL,ORE,WSTE
Nature of injury: MULTIPLE INJURIES
Body part affected: HEAD,NEC
Total mining experience: 18 years
Experience at this mine: 8 years
Experience in this job: 6 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

Same operator

June 17, 1991 · Welder · Eastern Mingo Coal Company, WV

Same classification

April 2, 2026 · Shuttle Car Operator · Marfork Coal Company, WV
September 2, 2025 · Blaster · Heidelberg Materials Northeast LLC, PA
July 12, 2025 · Scoop Tram Operator · Nyrstar Tennessee Mines, Strawberry Plains LLC, TN
September 25, 2024 · Continuous Miner Operator · Crimson Oak Grove Resources LLC, AL
September 6, 2024 · Continuous Miner Operator · Mingo Logan Coal LLC, WV

Same year

December 20, 1989 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · South Fork Energy Company, VA
December 19, 1989 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Koch Carbon Inc, KY
December 13, 1989 · Roof Bolter · Shelcha Coal Corp, KY
December 9, 1989 · Maintenance Man · Blue Diamond Coal Company, KY
December 7, 1989 · Roof Bolter Helper · Four A Coal Company, KY

Verify on MSHA

Every record on this page mirrors what MSHA publishes under its Open Government Data program, refreshed weekly. MSHA does not publish per-accident URLs (the Accidents data is distributed as a single bulk file), so this is how to retrieve the source for the specific record below:

Accident record: Download MSHA Accidents.zip then search for Document number 219893540001 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 4605978
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 219893540001 · Mine ID 4605978 Trainer view →