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Indiana Mine Shaft Fall Kills 3

Workers fell 500 feet

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 10, 2007 5:54 PM CDT

(Newser) – Three workers riding in a construction bucket plunged 500 feet to their deaths in an Indiana coal mine shaft today. The “sinking bucket” can hold up to 10 people, but authorities did not say whether anyone else was in the lift. It was also unclear whether the bucket itself fell or the victims were thrown from it, the AP reports.

A construction company was building a 550-foot vertical ventilation shaft at the mine, 30 miles north of Evansville. The lift, a company spokesman said, is inspected daily. The Gibson County coal mine, which began production in 2000, is the second most prolific in the state.

Map locates area where three people were killed in a mine shaft; 1c x 2 3/4 inches; 46.5 mm x 69.9 mm (Associated Press)

keep out ((c) eschipul)

The Gibson County mine owned by the Gibson County Coal Company is seen Friday, Aug. 10, 2007, west of Princeton, Ind. An accident at an air shaft under construction at the southern Indiana coal mine killed... (Associated Press)

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Workers fell 500 feet

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