Coal Miner Killed in West Virginia, Second Fatality This Year in the State

A coal miner died Wednesday in an accident at a northern West Virginia mine, Gov. Jim Justice said.

Cecil Barker, 62, of Philippi, was working as a surveyor at Century Mining’s Longview Mine in Barbour County. Two other surveyors were traveling with Barker on a mantrip ride by rail underground to the mining section when the accident occurred. The two other surveyors sustained minor injuries, Justice said in a news release.

The statement did not say how the accident happened and a spokesman for the Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training did not immediately return an email.

Barker had 18 years of mining experience. It was the second coal fatality of the year in the state and the third nationwide.

Topics Virginia