List of fatal US mine disasters in recent decades

List of fatal US mine disasters in recent decades

The explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Montcoal, W.Va., killed 29, the deadliest disaster at a U.S. coal mine since 1970 when 38 were killed in an explosion in Kentucky. In 1970, a fire at a silver mine in Idaho killed 91 people.

Here is a list of some mine disasters in the U.S. in the past three decades.

— 2007: Six miners, three rescuers killed in collapses at the Crandall Canyon mine in Emery County, Utah, owned by a subsidiary of Murray Energy.

— 2006: 12 killed in a methane explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia owned by International Coal Group.

— 2006: Five killed in an explosion at the Kentucky Darby No. 1 Mine in Harlan County, Ky.

— 2001: 13 killed in explosions at a Jim Walter Resources Inc. mine in Brookwood, Ala.

— 1992: Eight killed in an explosion at a Southmountain Coal Co. mine in Norton, Va.

— 1989: 10 killed in an explosion at a Pyro Mining Co. mine in Wheatcroft, Ky.

— 1986: Five killed when a coal pile collapses at Consolidation Coal Co.’s mine in Fairview, W.Va.

— 1984: 27 killed by a fire at Emery Mining Corp.’s mine in Orangeville, Utah.

— 1976: 26 killed by explosion at Scotia Mine, Blue Diamond Coal Co., Oven Fork, Ky.

— 1972: 91 killed after a fire at the Sunshine Mine in Kellogg, Idaho., a silver mine owned by Sunshine Mining Co.

— 1970: 38 killed by explosion at Finley Coal Co., Hyden, Ky.

The nation’s single deadliest mining disaster was in 1907, when 362 were killed in an explosion near Monongah, W.Va.

On the Net:

Mine Safety & Health Administration historical data on mine disasters in the U.S. www.msha.gov/MSHAINFO/FactSheets/MSHAFCT8.HTM

Source: AP archives, federal mining safety statistics.