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US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere told ILN that the continuous miner operator, whose name has not been released, was pinched between two pieces of equipment at the Prosperity mine in Pike County.
“The injured miner was life-flighted to a hospital in Louisville,” she said, adding that the individual’s leg has since been amputated above the knee.
A 103(k) closure order issued by MSHA was still in effect Wednesday afternoon, and federal investigators are on site. An electrical specialist was also due at the mine Wednesday to test the continuous miner.
According to local media outlets including WFIE, the accident – which also involved a shuttlecar – was the second recorded at the mine in as many months. Two miners were hurt in that event, reporting ankle, shoulder and chest injuries.
Those workers’ names were also not released.
Prosperity, which produced more than 2.4 million tons of coal last year, is operated by Five Star Mining. Federal data lists the controller as Donald Blankenberger.
The bituminous room-and-pillar mine has reported seven non-fatal days lost operator injuries to date in the 2012. There have been three NFDL contractor injuries.
