Accident at Prenter West Virginia Mine Injures 4

Inspectors are investigating the cause of an accident at a Prenter mine that sent four coal miners to the hospital.

A spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Commerce told the Register-Herald of Beckley that an axle on a transport vehicle broke while transporting miners into Mountain Edge Mining’s Dorothy Duke No. 3 mine around 8 a.m. on Monday.

Four miners were taken to the hospital. None of their injuries were life-threatening.

The Dorothy No. 3 mine was identified in August 2009 as one of the 48 mines in America that are dangerous, but also escaping tighter scrutiny. Each of the mines would have received a “pattern of violation” notice had there not been delays caused by a backlog of operator appeals.