Five Die as Pile of Coal Collapses and Buries Them in West Virginia

A hatch underneath a huge bin of coal was opened accidentally Thursday, and five workers standing atop the pile suffocated as tons of the finely processed coal collapsed and engulfed them, authorities said.

The five men did not suffer bruises or broken bones, but could not breathe because the coal packed in around them, county coroner Charles H. Koon said. “The coal just kept sliding on top of them,” he said.

The pile collapsed when a worker threw a switch that simultaneously started an adjacent conveyor and opened a door at the bottom of the bin, said John McGrath of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, which is investigating the accident at the Consolidated Coal Co.

“When that happened, of course, the coal began to move, engulfing the five men,” McGrath said.

Consolidated officials said they were conducting their own investigation and spokesman Paul Kvederis said it would be “premature” to comment on McGrath’s account.

Rescue crews dug frantically through the coal but did not find the last of the bodies until more than an hour after the accident.

The company identified three of the victims as senior design manager Joseph E. Dunn, 50, of Pittsburgh; assistant preparation engineer Joseph W. Leonard, 29, of Morgantown, and construction supervisor Roger B. Alke, 36, of Morgantown, Kvederis said.

The other two victims worked for Industrial Resources Inc. of Fairmont, which identified them as engineer Ronald Bell, 39, and Vice President David Kovach, 41, both of Fairmont.

The five men had been inspecting an overhead conveyor system in the bin, Kvederis said.