A coal miner has died in an incident in a southern West Virginia mine, Gov. Jim Justice said.
William Mapes, 73, of Freeburn, Kentucky, died Sunday, Justice said Sunday in a news release. Mapes had 53 years of mining experience and was working as a contractor for LSM Contracting near Central Appalachian Mining LLC’s Grapevine South Surface Mine in Mingo County, along the Kentucky border, Justice said Sunday in a news release.
The statement said Mapes was “fatally injured” but did not include details of the incident. A spokesperson for the state Office of Miners’ Safety Health and Training declined comment Monday.
It was the first reported U.S. coal mining fatality of the year. There were at least 10 coal mining-related deaths nationwide last year, including four in West Virginia and two each in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Topics USA
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Camp Mystic, Where Texas Floods Killed 28, Files Bankruptcy
North Carolina Becomes First State to Pass Outright Ban on Litigation Financing
US House Passes Bill to Extend Federal Terrorism Backstop Through 2034
Florida-Based Safepoint Withdraws IPO Just as it Was Expected to Launch 

