Coal Miner Killed In W.Va. Was Pinned By Mine Supply Car, Report Says

This story was originally published by WEKU.

A coal miner in West Virginia was killed earlier this month in the derailment of a mine supply car, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Joseph Mitchell, 25, was pinned underneath the supply car after it and two locomotives derailed after striking another piece of equipment, MSHA’s preliminary report says on the Nov. 6 incident.

Mitchell had worked more than three years at the Mountain View Mine in Tucker County, owned by Alliance Resource Partners.

Alliance Resource Partners is owned by Joe and Kelly Craft, prominent political fundraisers in Kentucky.

Kelly Craft was a Republican candidate for governor in 2023 but lost to then-Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

There have been seven coal mine fatalities nationwide this year, according to MSHA. Five took place in West Virginia. Another happened in Ohio and another in Pennsylvania.

Mitchell was one of two coal miners killed in West Virginia this month. According to another MSHA preliminary report, Steven Lipscomb, 42, a section foreman, drowned.

Lipscomb’s body was found on Nov. 13, five days after water inundated the Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County, owned by Alpha Metallurgical Resources.

Both MSHA reports were delayed by the 43-day partial shutdown of the federal government.

MSHA classified Mitchell’s death as attributable to powered haulage. The agency has issued warnings of an uptick in that classification.

Since the beginning of 2024, seven coal miners have been killed in accidents MSHA has classified as powered haulage.

Alliance Resource Partners did not respond to a previous request for comment about Mitchell’s death.

This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU Public Radio in Kentucky and NPR.