Continuous Miner Operator fatality at Mine #9 (Branham & Baker Underground Corp), KY, June 11, 1998

at 4:48 PM

On June 11, 1998, a continuous miner operator was fatally injured in a fall of roof or back accident at Mine #9 (Branham & Baker Underground Corp), KY.

Mine #9 · Underground · Coal

Operator: Branham & Baker Underground Corp (Donn A Chickering)

Pike County, KY

Classification FALL OF ROOF OR BACK

Type Struck by falling object

Investigator narrative

VICTIM (MINER OPERATOR) POSITIONED HIMSELF IN A LOCATION THAT HAD A PIECE OF ROCK BREAK LOOSE FROM THE ROOF, WHICH APPARENTLY CAUGHT THE VICTIM AS IT FELL, CAUSING FATAL INJURIES.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Continuous Miner
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: CRUSHING
Body part affected: MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)
Total mining experience: 18 years
Experience at this mine: 1 year
Experience in this job: 1 year
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

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 23, 1998 · Laborer · Lhoist North America Of Tennessee, LLC, TN
December 17, 1998 · Maintenance Man · Unicorn Mining Inc, KY
December 14, 1998 · Continuous Miner Helper · Bowie Resources Limited, CO
December 14, 1998 · Continuous Miner Helper · Bowie Resources Limited, CO
December 7, 1998 · Laborer · Hanson Material Service, IL

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 219981730002 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 1517299
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 219981730002 · Mine ID 1517299 Trainer view →