Pennsylvania Mine Accident Kills One

PITTSBURGH – A coal miner (search) was killed when the roof collapsed Friday about two miles inside a western Pennsylvania mine, a coroner said.

Workers recovered the body of the 26-year-old victim from beneath rubble in the Tracy Lynne Mine about 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Armstrong County Coroner Robert Bower said. The miner was not immediately identified.

State investigators said he was operating a roof bolter — a machine that inserts bolts meant to reinforce the mine's roof — about 200 feet underground at the time of the collapse. The miner was wearing a tracking device that let co-workers know he was in distress, officials said.

Officials with Rosebud Mining Co. of Kittanning (search) called state police Friday evening to report the roof collapse. A rescue crew was dispatched because it was first thought other workers were trapped, but authorities quickly determined nobody else was in that part of the mine, officials said.

The collapse was being investigated by state and federal agencies. Officials did not immediately comment on what might have caused it.

Paul Agnello, who is listed as the mine's foreman on Rosebud Mining's Web site, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

Rosebud operates nine deep mines in Pennsylvania and is the state's third largest underground coal producer, according to its Web site.

In July 2002, nine miners were rescued after becoming trapped in Quecreek Mine, about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, when the men accidentally cut into an adjacent mine that was abandoned and flooded. The incident led to calls to update antiquated mining regulations in the state.