Darrel Winstead And Samuel Lindsey, Two Kentucky Miners, Dead After Wall Collapse

Darrel Winstead and Samuel Lindsey, two Kentucky miners, have died after becoming trapped on Friday when a wall collapsed at the Armstrong Coal Company's Equality Boot Mine, located in Centertown, Ohio County, Kentucky.

On Friday morning around 6:30am EDT, the two men were driving a truck near a highwall when falling rock trapped the men in their truck. Armstrong Coal Company later confirmed to 14 News that the two trapped miners had died. According to CNN, several other miners were injured from the incident.

WFPL writes that the two men's bodies were recovered at around 1:15pm EDT. The men were 47-year-old Darrel Winstead of Madisonville and 23-year-old Samuel Lindsey of Mortons Gap.

According to the Associated Press, Ohio County coroner Larry Bevil says the men were likely killed immediately by the rock pile.

The news organization reports that the men worked as blasters for Mine Equipment and Mill Supply Company.

State officials are investigating.

Armstrong Coal Company's website describes Equality Boot mine, writing, "Armstrong's newest active mine, is a surface mine located near the city of Centertown in Ohio County, Kentucky that extracts steam coal from the West Kentucky #14, 13, 12 and 11 coal seams."

The Associated Press writes:

"Mine safety is of paramount importance, and investigative teams will begin work immediately to determine the cause of this accident and whether there are any steps that can be taken to ensure such an accident does not occur again," Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said in a statement Friday.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in a statement offered his condolences and said he appreciates "the dedication of Kentucky's coal community."

In June, three workers were trapped in another coal mine in Kentucky. All three were rescued from the mine the same day.

At another mine in Western Kentucky, two miners were killed in April 2010 after a roof collapsed. According to AP, the mine had "a long history of safety problems."

Earlier this week, the former security chief of the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia was convicted of impeding the investigation of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in decades. Last year, 29 miners were killed by an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine.

Note: Earlier reports incorrectly said that Samuel Lindsey was 33. He was 23 years old.

WATCH 14 News footage of the first responders:

Comments

[dangerousdaneerfan]

08:54 PM on 10/30/2011

These guys and hundreds like them working above ground and below ground keep your lights on.

[libnlandofthelost]

03:14 AM on 10/31/2011

I know that these guys work hard and in intolerable conditions for most people. They suffer incredibly high numbers of work related injuries. If they don't get injured and have to leave mining at a young enough age, they can wind up with stuff like chronic pain syndromes, cancers, and lung diseases.
Its in everyone's best interest to keep them healthy and alive.

[FourSordidRms]

06:55 PM on 10/30/2011

What a hypocrite Rand Paul is; he campaigned on doing away with federal mine safety regulations. Rand Paul: Mine safety regulations aren’t needed since “no one will apply” for jobs at dangerous mines.

[libnlandofthelost]

03:06 AM on 10/31/2011

I think we can safely assume Rand Paul has been bought. He lies like a rug. I've lived in McCreary County Ky. The parts that haven't been mined are gorgeous, but impoverished beyond imagination. The only legitimate industries in that area are mining and logging.

People don't have a choice of which mines to work in. There is no competition among mine operators to hire people. People go where they get hired, and jobs are always scarce. Logging is worse in that they use a lot of per diem workers, no benefits, no security.

If someone gets hurt or becomes unable to work in either of those industries, they end up collecting SSI for ever and make a little meth or sell some oxycodone in their spare time. They grow pot if they get around to farming it.

The local paper published a weekly pot plant seizure report. The annual per capita consumption of oral pain meds like oxycodone and hydrocodone is ridiculous like 800x the nat average.

Mine operators don't build the mines they make their money off of with any commitment to safety standards unless they're threatened with jail. They don't restore the land at all.

Why is it so hard to understand that you have to clean an area up, and make it safer, so you can attract businesses to come in before you can create new jobs.

[BigHound1]

06:47 PM on 10/30/2011

These miners are heroes as they risk their lives to ensure cheap energy for us. It is unfortunate that many people in leadership positions are working to relax safety laws and guidelines that are still much needed.

[mbkeefer]

04:05 PM on 10/30/2011

It cannot be that much more expensive to slope the walls 20 or 30 degrees. A lot less likely to collapse and any failure that does happen is going to be smaller and not likely to land on top of the trucks. Bet the company is really upset about loosing those two trucks.

[scampy123]

07:45 AM on 10/31/2011

Yes if you were in open cast surface mine but not deep mining..
Walls spoken about are not man made.

[Glenn Friedman]

03:17 PM on 10/30/2011

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in a statement offered his condolences and said he appreciates "the dedication of Kentucky's coal community." he has also said that mine safety regulations are not needed as miners just won't work in unsafe mines. May God's blessings be with these workers and their families.

[mbkeefer]

03:49 PM on 10/30/2011

Cannot enter the words to describe my feeling about Senator Rand Paul right now. But, they would not be compliments.

[mbkeefer]

06:16 PM on 10/30/2011

Finally figured out the GOP jobs program. Do away with safety and environmental regulations. The resulting job opening from industrial accidents and general poor will fix the high unemployment.

[iirm]

01:11 PM on 10/30/2011

So...two more people have died while working in the coal mining industry. And still the republicans from that state consider "regulation a burden". I pray no other accidents befell the people who work there or in any other coal mining state. Perhaps the people of WVA might be interesting in learning the facts of the case. They too often permit the worst offenders to continue to operate. Must make really big campaign donations. Just my thoughts.

[kidcat24]

11:05 AM on 10/30/2011

Hey what do you say we get rid of regulations

[fldemgirls]

03:14 PM on 10/30/2011

Let's just get rid of republicans.

[hacharacter]

10:21 AM on 10/30/2011

My sympathies to the families.

[Kerry Cook]

06:54 PM on 10/29/2011

To the families & friends of Darrel Winstead and Samuel Lindsey I send my heartfelt sympathy. These men lost their lives working a hard & thankless job that keeps our homes warm & powered up. This tragedy should have us take a moment out of our day to show a little respect for all who've been lost to tragic, 'on the job' accidents. Many mining accidents are often preventable but the mine owners' greed will often lead to 'cutting corners' which puts many miners lives in jeopardy. I can only hope that this tragedy will usher in more thorough inspections & safer practices to help prevent these senseless tragedies in mines around the world. While some will use this tragedy to squawk about the "evils of coal & fossil fuels" (conveniently forgetting that their pricey electric cars consume lots of power produced with coal), I can only hope that most of us will use their time remembering those who lost their lives while doing their jobs (such as loggers, fishermen, roofers/construction workers, machinists & truckers to name but a few) that often provide everyone (both rich & poor, as well as those in between) with the things we need or want but often take for granted. Instead of ranting about political or environmental issues, why not aim to show some respect & appreciation of the unsung heroes who die/d doing their jobs to make our lives more comfortable, safe, & /or enjoyable. Again, I give my condolences to the Winstead

[cjohns58]

05:10 PM on 10/29/2011

If the government (OSHA?) was doing it's intended job this tragedy might not have happened. The investigation may shed some light, "Earlier this week, the former security chief of the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia was convicted of impeding the investigation of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in decades" or expose more levels of greed based corruption. We can't expect the government to be every where and see everything, it's neither practical or affordable. Enter the workers themselves organizing to protect their very lives.

[Captcounselor]

10:46 AM on 10/30/2011

OSHA is working exactly as the Republicans intended it to. The EPA is next on their list.

[tjconkster]

12:31 PM on 10/30/2011

Soon to be followed by the FDA...say good bye to clean air, water & safe food....

[iirm]

01:19 PM on 10/30/2011

I could not agree with you more. Workers need to stand up for themselves and say "no more". The government does not want to kill free market capitaliism, it wants to protect the lives of its people. Of course that statement is true only when discussing the past. The republicans have decided that regulations and protections are just those "pesky" things that get in the way of the corporations making big money, which equates to really big campaign donations. Too bad.
My sympathies are with the families.
Just my thoughts.

[dlr51185]

05:10 PM on 10/29/2011

I live in a Democratically controlled state, and it HAS been this way since I was a child in the 60s. So, Republicans aren't to blame for mine deaths in OUR state.

It's hard for some people to accept the cold hard truth that mining coal is a treacherous job. If a rock fall doesn't get you, Black Lung from the coal dust eventually will. NO man who has worked a long period of time in the coal mines has a happy, healthy retirement. NONE of them! I've lived in this environment all my life and I know what I'm talking about.

A company can follow safety regs to the letter and you'd still have a roof fall or a cave-in. Plus, a lot of these mines are what we call "punch mines". They're the "small businesses" of the coal industry. You could have every safety regulation ever imagined on the books and some operators will ignore them. The employees know they're being ignored, too. But the big paychecks that miners get makes a lot of them turn a blind eye and take the risk.

There's more blame to go around than just throwing it all on the backs of the Republicans.

[Ms Disbelef]

12:05 PM on 10/30/2011

That is why we have federal OSHA safety laws. When you get years of Repub control of the federal government, they roll back regulations and safety laws. G W Bush admin tried to get rid of the NLRB and now the Repub House of Reps is trying to do the same thing. The Repubs and Tea Partiers would like to do a return of child labor (Maine Repub legislature has already lowered the working age), no worker safety laws and no environmental laws.

[iirm]

01:22 PM on 10/30/2011

and the minimum wage for teenagers to $5.85. Further I believe they can even work longer hours so companies can hire them to do the same work as an adult for a lot less. The only restriction is that you must fire them in 179 days, then wait a week and rehire them or some other poor teen who needs to work. What a shameful country we have become.
Just my thoughts.

[danikle8]

04:24 PM on 10/29/2011

And the T-GOP think we should get the goverment off the companys back and the mine safty laws are too strong and should be relaxed so more jobs will be created. Well sad to say 2 more jobs are now open.

[jvabevofox]

04:09 PM on 10/29/2011

The tragic loss of these brave hard working family men and the grief brought upon there familys and the rebaggers won't even blink just cry for more deregulations. Those pesky old safety regulations cost jobs. Translation safety cost money which they feel is more important than lost lives and the grief it brings.

[rrobin6128]

04:43 PM on 10/29/2011

People like you are so ignorant it is disgusting! If you even had a clue of what you were talking about you would understand how ignorant you are. People in the mining industry, which I work in are some of the safest around, it is dangerous. What we get up set with is not the safety issues, it is getting fined for someone forgetting to put a garbage can lid back on a can, getting fine for a water cooler being empty, even though there is surplus stock next to the cooler so the next person just replaces the bottle, but yet they will over look something truly needing work on. People like you who want to make this a political thing is absurd, but I can tell you this, more miners are conservative than liberal like you.

[cjohns58]

05:16 PM on 10/29/2011

You're examples show you never worked in any kind of industry and just plain lying.

[bigpapapuff425]

08:20 PM on 10/29/2011

So, what you are saying is that OSHA will fine a company for the water cooler being empty and a lidless garbage can, but overlook safety violations that endanger miner's lives. Yeah, I believe that one, oh sure, he said with much sarcasm.

[geoff23111]

03:54 PM on 10/29/2011

the Democrats control the mine inspection so i guess it like every other thing they do it was somebody else fault not theirs. George bush did not inspect the mine so its his fault and those republicans fault.

[cjohns58]

04:51 PM on 10/29/2011

Here's your typical repug comment in the face of the gop claiming to many regulations. Thanks for the proof of your lies.

[watcher2020]

03:20 PM on 10/30/2011

No,He just appointed the former head of Massey Coal to be the head of MSHA....Nuff said.

[Wayne S Swanson II]

02:42 PM on 10/29/2011

A typical Republican comment , its all about money aint it mr. repub? I thought your repubs were in power?