West Virginia coal miner died in fall after supply car hit

VALLEY GROVE, W.Va. (AP) — Federal regulators say a coal miner who died last week at a northern West Virginia underground mine was sitting on a supply car that was struck by a locomotive.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration says 38-year-old William A. Richards of Cadiz, Ohio, was killed in the August 17th accident at the Tunnel Ridge Mine in Valley Grove. Richards had 13 years of mining experience. The report says he fell and was pinned between the supply car and its coupler.

It was the third fatal coal mining accident in West Virginia this year.

Tunnel Ridge is owned by Alliance Resource Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma.