Montcoal (West Virginia): Six miners were killed and at least 21 were unaccounted in an explosion at an underground coal mine, the state mining director said on Tuesday.
Ron Wooten said the blast was reported around 3 pm (1900 GMT) at Massey Energy Co's Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, about 48 kilometres south of Charleston.
The company did not provide details on the extent of the damage or if other miners had been rescued. A Boone County ambulance dispatcher also said he has the same number of fatalities and missing miners.
The mine is operated by Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co. It has caches of extra oxygen along emergency escape routes and airtight refuge chambers designed to provide enough air to keep miners alive for four days if they can't make their way out, according to Randy Harris, an engineering consultant who oversees installation of high-tech gear.
Mine emergency crews from the State Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training were headed to the scene, but agency spokeswoman Jama Jarrett had no more details.
The large mine produced 1.2 million tons of coal in 2009, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and has about 200 employees, most of whom work underground. They would not have all been working the same shift.
Gov Joe Manchin was out of town, but working to get back, according to his office. Chief of Staff Jim Spears was headed to the mine.
At least three fatalities have happened at the mine in the past dozen years.
In 1998, a worker was killed when a support beam collapsed, dumping bags of cement mix and other materials onto the man, according to a report from the federal Mine Safety & Health Administration. Federal investigators blamed poor welding and construction.
In 2001, another worker at the mine died after a portion of roof fell in on him, and an electrician died after being electrocuted while repairing a shuttle car there in 2003.
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