BARTON, Maryland – The body of the second of two miners missing after a section of a high wall at an open-pit coal mine collapsed in western Maryland was found Friday inside a bulldozer, a federal mine official said.
The first victim's body was found earlier Friday inside a backhoe, said Bob Cornett, acting regional director for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The men were working their equipment side by side Tuesday when the wall section collapsed at the Tri-Star Mining site near Barton, burying the equipment beneath at least 45 feet of rock and dirt. The mine is about 150 miles west of Baltimore.
After workers removed thousands of tons of debris from the site, both pieces of equipment were spotted Thursday night. The vehicles were extensively damaged.
The cause of the collapse was under investigation, but Cornett said recent heavy rains and ground freezing and thawing could be a factor.
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