The death of a mineworker at the Kellingley colliery in the UK, one of the nation’s largest coal mines, brought a stop to work at the mine yesterday.
UK Coal said the site will be closed for a fortnight following the death, which occurred due to an alleged equipment failure.
The company attributed “suspect valves on the roof supports of the coal face” as being a possible cause.
It is not the first death UK Coal has suffered in recent years.
The UK Health and Safety Executive is said to have summonsed the company following ten deaths at its sites in separate incidents, including the Welbeck colliery and Daw Mill site.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining announced two of its miners trapped underground at the Target mine have been released.
The miners were trapped following a rock fall yesterday which killed two other miners.
Harmony’s mines – some of the world’s deepest and most dangerous gold mines – have taken the lives of 22 people in the last 12 months.
