Kellingley Colliery roof fall investigated after miner dies

An investigation has begun after a roof collapsed in a North Yorkshire pit, killing one miner and injuring another.The two men became trapped up to their waist by debris at Kellingley Colliery, near Knottingley, on Tuesday.Police said the miner who died at the scene was in his 40s and from North Yorkshire. He has not yet been named.Specialist mine inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and officers from North Yorkshire Police will investigate what happened.The second man, who suffered minor injuries, was also in his 40s but from West Yorkshire, police said. He was taken to Pinderfields Hospital for treatment.Gareth Williams, managing director for mining at UK Coal, which manages Kellingley, one of the UK's largest remaining deep mines, said the roof had fallen in at 16:35 BST.The two men were brought to the surface about three hours later.Mr Williams said: "Colleagues successfully recovered one of the two employees trapped by the lower leg. UK Coal regrets to confirm the second colleague was confirmed dead by our own team, despite our best efforts."Part of the mine where the accident happened is understood to be three miles lateral distance from the entrance to the pit.The Yorkshire Ambulance Service sent a specialist hazardous area response team to the scene, together with two doctors, a rapid response vehicle, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and an incident officer.The MP for Pontefract and Castleford, Yvette Cooper, fought back tears as she told Labour supporters at a party conference fringe event that there had been a mining accident on the edge of her constituency.The shadow home secretary cut short her appearance and later said in a statement: "This is terrible and tragic news."The entire community will be devastated by this and I know everyone will want to support the families at this dreadful time."Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the miner who died and with his colleague who was also trapped, the brave rescue teams and emergency services who attended the scene, and the wider UK mining community at this time."On 30 November 2010, 200 workers were evacuated from the Kellingley pit after a methane explosion underground.Miner Ian Cameron died after equipment fell on him on 18 October 2009 and in September 2008, Don Cook died in a rock fall.Health and Safety Executive statistics show there had been seven deaths in mining accidents in the UK since 2007, before the accident earlier this month in which four men died when a Swansea Valley colliery flooded. From / BBC