Fatality at AK Coal’s North Fork Mine, Pennsylvania
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A coal miner was killed early Thursday morning in an accident at a Somerset County mine, officials said.
Nevin Joel Hostetter, 35, of Central City, was working at AK Coal’s North Fork Mine in Jenner Township when the accident happened at around 3 a.m. Thursday, according to a press release issued by state police in Somerset.
Hostetter’s coworkers “made every effort to swiftly extract him from the mine for additional medical attention,” Trooper Scott J. Kemerer wrote in the press release, but he was pronounced dead as a result of his injuries at the scene. The police investigation is ongoing, pending autopsy results.
Kemerer wrote that Hostetter was operating a “mobile bridge conveyor” when the accident happened, but did not provide further details.
Lisa H. Jester, communications manager for parent company AK Steel, confirmed in an email Friday that an employee at the North Fork Mine “was injured and passed away” early Thursday morning. She did not provide further details.
“Authorities were notified and are in the process of conducting a thorough investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with our employee’s family and our employees at this very difficult time,” Jester wrote in the email.
Firefighters from Acosta and Sipesville, EMS personnel from Boswell and Somerset and a Medstar helicopter were dispatched to the mine, which is located along Hoffman Church Road near Acosta, at 3:02 a.m. Thursday, according to Somerset County 911 personnel.
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident, U.S. Department of Labor spokeswoman Laura K. McGinnis wrote in an email Friday afternoon.
According to a 2017 article in the industry magazine Coal Age, the North Fork Mine produces metallurgical coal that is shipped to the blast furnaces at AK Steel’s steel plant in Middletown, Ohio. AK Steel, based in the Cincinnati suburb of West Chester, also has steel plants in Dearborn, Michigan, and Ashland, Kentucky.
Source: The Tribune-Democrat
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