mining accidents

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Gold Mine Collapse Kills at Least 14

There are fears the death toll could rise in Venezuela tragedy

(Newser) - The collapse of an illegally operated open-pit gold mine in central Venezuela killed at least 14 people and injured several more, state authorities said Wednesday, as some other officials reported an undetermined number of people could be trapped, the AP reports. Bolivar state Gov. Angel Marcano told local reporters that...

Illegal Miners Blamed for Gas Leak That Killed 16

3 children among the dead in South Africa disaster

(Newser) - At least 16 people, including three children, were killed by a leak of a toxic nitrate gas being used by illegal miners to process gold in a settlement of closely packed metal shacks, South African police and local officials said late Wednesday. Emergency services initially announced that as many as...

They Found 5 Bodies Wrapped in Plastic, Then 15 More

South African discovery linked to illegal mining mishap

(Newser) - Police have uncovered the burned bodies of 20 men "wrapped in white plastic bags" in a gold mining town in South Africa. Five bodies were discovered Monday near a disused mine shaft in Orkney, North West province, about 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg, per the Sunday Times . Another body...

Brazil Dam Collapse Could Be Among Deadliest in 50 Years

Death toll in Brumadinho tragedy jumps to 58, with hundreds still missing

(Newser) - Officials in Brazil feared they'd find many more bodies after a dam collapse in Brumadinho on Friday. Those fears have been realized, with the death toll climbing from under a dozen to now nearly 60. Authorities have confirmed 58 people perished and up to 300 are still missing, and...

16 Dead, More Missing in Mine Collapse

Indian officials are running out of hope they'll find the missing miners alive

(Newser) - Sixteen bodies have been recovered after a mine collapsed Thursday in India, and police are losing hope for the remaining seven miners still missing, the AP reports. According to the BBC , the collapse occurred while there were at least 60 people working in the mine. Heavy smog made it impossible...

36 Killed, Including 5 Rescuers, in Russia Mine Blast

Methane gas leak led to explosions

(Newser) - A total of 36 people were killed at a coal mine in Russia's far north where a methane gas leak triggered three explosions that resulted in a raging fire and the collapse of the mine, officials said Sunday. The dead include five rescue workers and a miner who were...

17 Trapped Miners Rescued in New York

They were stuck overnight in an elevator

(Newser) - All 17 miners trapped overnight in an elevator more than 70 stories below ground have been rescued in upstate New York. Miners at the Cargill salt mine in Lansing were starting their shift around 10pm Wednesday when an elevator became jammed 775 feet down an access shaft, officials say. Cargill...

Infrared Cameras Spot 8 Men Alive in Mine

They became trapped 5 days ago

(Newser) - Rescuers using infrared cameras to peer into darkness at a wrecked mine in eastern China on Wednesday found eight surviving miners who were trapped for five days after a collapse so violent it registered as a seismic event. The disaster on Christmas Day at the gypsum mine in Shandong province...

Mine Owner Kills Himself After Deadly Accident

Authorities say he drowned himself during rescue effort

(Newser) - The owner of a mine in China's Shandong province was apparently overcome by either remorse or a fear of authorities after a collapse killed at least one worker and left another 17 trapped. The gypsum mine owner jumped into a well and drowned in an apparent suicide Sunday while...

Jade Mine Disaster Kills More Than 100

At least 100 others still missing in northern Burma

(Newser) - Soldiers, police, and volunteers pulled body after body from the rubble in northern Burma on Monday as the death toll from a landslide near several jade mines reached at least 113, with more than 100 others missing, a local official says. The collapse early Saturday in Kachin state's mining...

Turkey Ends Mine Search With Death Toll at 301

Anger among miners, families still rising

(Newser) - Turkey's energy minister says rescue workers have completed their search in Turkey's worst mining disaster after retrieving the bodies of the last two missing miners. Taner Yildiz said today that the death toll from the May 13 explosion and fire that devastated a coal mine in Soma is...

Trapped Miners Begin Emerging From Illegal S. Africa Mine

Rescuers in contact with 30 illegal miners near surface; more below

(Newser) - A handful of the 200-plus illegal South African miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine near Johannesburg have begun to emerge, reports the BBC . Rescuers are in contact with a group of about 30 miners who are near the surface, reports Reuters . "They told us there are about 200...

Carbon Monoxide Kills 2 Miners in Colo. Accident

20 others injured

(Newser) - Two miners were killed in Colorado early yesterday, and authorities say they died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the Denver Post reports. The incident at the Revenue-Virginius Mine, near the town of Ouray, was described as a "powder-smoke incident" and was not a cave-in or collapse, the Ouray Watch reports....

25 Dead in Ukraine Mining Accidents

Two separate incidents highlight safety lapses

(Newser) - Rescue workers have found five more bodies at two Ukrainian coal mines where accidents occurred, raising the death toll to 25. Twelve other miners remain missing. The accidents in the eastern region shocked the country and highlighted the dangers of the nation's mining industry. It is believed to be...

China Accidents Trap 40 Miners
 China Accidents Trap 40 Miners 
Jul 2, 2011 6:20 AM CDT

China Accidents Trap 40 Miners

Cave-in and flood hit separate mines

(Newser) - A coal mine flood in southwestern China trapped 21 miners underground, while a cave-in at another mine today killed at least three workers and left 19 others sealed off, officials said. Rescuers scrambled to reach the miners at the Niupeng coal mine in the county of Pingtang in Guizhou province...

High Gas Levels Thwart NZ Miner Rescue

But officials confident missing 29 still alive

(Newser) - Twenty-nine New Zealand miners remained stuck more than a mile underground today as high methane and carbon monoxide levels prevented rescuers from retrieving them. "Unfortunately it's just not as simple as putting on a mask and gown and rushing in there," says one official. "It does pose...

Mine Regulators Under FBI Investigation

Mine Safety and Health officials may have been bribed

(Newser) - The FBI has launched a criminal investigation of the Mine Safety and Health Administration in connection with the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, and the agency is looking into allegations regulators took bribes from Massey Energy, sources tell NPR . Massey, which owned the mine, is also under investigation for criminal...

Feds Run Surprise Inspections on 57 Coal Mines

For some reason, they're worried they might be dangerous

(Newser) - Nearly 60 problem coal mines have been hit with surprise inspections aimed at preventing another explosion like the one that killed 29 miners in West Virginia, the nation's chief mine safety regulator said yesterday. The raids targeted 57 mines with a history of violations, the Mine Safety and Health Administration...

Last 4 Miners Found Dead
 Last 4 Miners Found Dead 
Apr 10, 2010 2:18 AM CDT

Last 4 Miners Found Dead

Death toll makes explosion worst coal-mining disaster in 40 years

(Newser) - Dashing hopes that they had survived the massive explosion that killed 25 of their colleagues, four coal miners were found dead early this morning in a mine in Montcoal, W. Va., making Monday's incident the worst coal-mining disaster in over a generation. The head of the Mine Safety and Health...

Search Crews Enter Mine, Seek Last 4 Miners

But there's little hope they're still alive

(Newser) - Rescue crews began working their way by rail car and on foot through a West Virginia coal mine early this morning in search of four miners missing since a blast killed 25 colleagues in the worst US mining disaster in more than two decades. Gov. Joe Manchin said crews entered...

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