Curtis Tate Published

Second Worker Dies In Kentucky Coal Mine Prep Plant Collapse

A man in a blue shirt with sleeves rolled up speaks into a microphone to an audience.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear
J. Tyler Franklin / Louisville Public Media

A second man has died in the collapse of a building at an idled coal preparation plant in Eastern Kentucky.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the worker’s death on social media Friday afternoon.

“This is a heartbreaking situation and I hope everyone will join Britainy and me in praying for the families of these two workers and this entire community,” Beshear posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter.

Lon Lafferty, the Martin County executive, identified the men as Billy Ray Daniels and Alvin Nees.

Rescuers found Nees’ body on Friday.

Both workers became trapped in the wreckage of the Martin County Mine Prep Plant on Tuesday evening.

Daniels was alive when rescuers found him, but he died of his injuries before they could free him.

Both men were in the process of salvaging the 11-story building when it collapsed on them.

Rescue workers from around Kentucky were involved in the search.