Special Edition: Coal Miner Dies In Kentucky

Coal miner dies after accident at Kentucky surface mine
BY KARLA WARD AND BILL ESTEP
OCTOBER 10, 2020 02:52 PM

A Kentucky coal miner died in an accident at a surface mine in Bell County Friday.

Douglas Slusher, 48, was working as a hydroseeder at Double Mountain Mining #3, the “Strata” surface mine in Fonde, when a coupling failed on the hydro gun he was using, and he was hit in the chest, according to a news release from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. During hydroseeding, a mixture of grass seed, water and other products is sprayed on the ground at the mining site to promote the growth of new vegetation.

The cabinet said CPR was administered, but Slusher died at the scene. The accident happened at about noon.

Mining operations were shut down at the site after Slusher’s death and will remain suspended while the state’s Division of Mine Safety investigates. Investigators were sent to the site Friday afternoon.

“On behalf of the cabinet, I want to express my deepest sympathies to the Slusher family,” Rebecca Goodman, secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet, said in the release. “We will learn more about how this accident happened so that we can hopefully prevent another such loss of life.”

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Thanks for the share, DT.