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W.Va. cites Consol in fatal coal mining accident
CHARLESTON -- Mine operator Consol Energy has been cited for a safety violation that contributed to a fatal coal mining accident in June, a state mine inspector said Wednesday.
Veteran miner Gary Hoffman, 55, was struck and killed June 5 by a loaded rail car at Consol's Robinson Run No. 95 mine, state mine inspector Alan Lander said at a briefing of the state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety.
Hoffman was pulling two cars weighing a combined 43.32 tons when the locomotive he was driving began to slide, Lander said.
Investigators couldn't determine whether Hoffman jumped, fell or was thrown from the careening 20-ton locomotive before he was struck in the head by the rear of the second car. Consol was cited for a contributing violation because one of the locomotive's two sanders was plugged and unable to drop sand on the tracks, Lander said.
