Kentucky coal death is nation’s 3rd fatal in new year

DYLAN LOVAN
Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A coal miner in western Kentucky has died after being pinned against a wall by a mobile digging machine in an underground mine, the first coal mining death in the state this year and the third nationally.

The death prompted a top U.S. mine safety official to call Wednesday for increased enforcement and education at the nation’s coal mines.

Nathan G. Phillips, 36, was operating a continuous miner machine at the Dotiki Mine in Webster County when he was killed Tuesday.

Federal mine safety officials issued a new rule last year that seeks to prevent similar accidents by requiring motion sensing equipment on the digging machines. It was not known if the machine Phillips was operating had a detector.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.