A MINER has died after becoming trapped underground when a roof collapsed at a pit.
The man and his colleague became stuck in debris up to their waist at Kellingley Colliery near Knottingley, Yorkshire, yesterday afternoon.
Rescuers managed to save one of the men, but Gareth Williams, the chief executive of UK Coal, confirmed last night the other had died.
Mr Williams said: “UK Coal can confirm a fall of roof occurred at 4.35pm which trapped two of our colleagues.
“Colleagues successfully recovered one of the two employees trapped by the lower leg. He is now on the surface.
“UK Coal regrets to confirm the second colleague was confirmed dead by our own team, despite our best efforts. No names are going to be released at the moment.”
Mr Williams added the company’s thoughts were with the family of the dead miner. He is thought to be in his 40s and was from North Yorkshire. The other man, also in his 40s and from West Yorkshire, was taken to Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield, with minor injuries.
While the rescue attempt was still under way, relatives of employees of Kellingley Colliery gathered outside the mine in tears waiting to find out if their loved ones had been involved.
MP for Pontefract and Castleford Yvette Cooper also broke down as she told a Labour party fringe event there had been a mining accident on the edge of her constituency.
The miner’s death follows the tragedy in south Wales earlier this month when four men were killed when water engulfed a pit at Cilybebyll, near Pontardawe.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service and North Yorkshire Police confirmed yesterday they had responded to a 999 call after reports of two men trapped underground at the Kellingley Colliery site in Yorkshire at around 4.50pm.
A spokesman from North Yorkshire Police said: “Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response team, who are trained and equipped to work underground, were deployed to the incident, supported by mine rescue specialists.
“At around 7.30pm, two miners were brought to the surface by North Yorkshire Ambulance Service and the mine rescue team.
“One man in his 40s and from the West Yorkshire area was taken to Pinderfields hospital with minor injuries.
“Sadly, the other miner, a man in his 40s from North Yorkshire, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A joint investigation into the incident will be carried out by specialist mine inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive and North Yorkshire Police.”
Kellingley, one of Britain’s deepest remaining mines, employs around 600 staff.
UK Coal evacuated 218 workers from the mine last year after methane gas seeped into the area and ignited.
In 2009, Ian Cameron, 46, died at the colliery after an equipment failure. At the time, UK Coal received summonses from the Health and Safety Executive relating to four deaths in separate incidents at its collieries.
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