A man died in an accident at the Alliance Resource Partners operated Pattiki Mine in Carmi in White County, Illinois on Saturday 5 October 2013. The man has been named as Robert Smith, 47, of Norris City, Illinois, who died of blunt trauma injuries after the vehicle he was driving, a modified golf cart used for underground transportation at the mine, overturned on him. Co-workers who witnessed the event tried to lift the vehicle from him, but were unable rescue him in time. The reason for the accident is not yet clear, and is being investigated by federal and state mining inspectors.
The Pattiki Mine in White County, Illinois. Wall Street Bean.
The Pattiki Mine is not generally considered to have a safety problem, and workers report feeling safe there. There have been two previous fatal accidents recorded at the mine, in 2000, when a miner was killed by a rockfall and in 2008 when a worker became entangled in equipment.
The approximate location of the Pattiki Coal Mine. Google Maps.
See also Worker killed at West Virginia coal mine, Executive faces prison over West Virginia's Upper Branch Mine Disaster, Fatality at Mexican Silver Mine, Worker dies at Saskatchewan potash mine and Iowa sinkhole linked to nineteenth century mines.
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