Investigation at UK Coal site following death

AN investigation is underway at UK Coal’s Kellingley mine after it confirmed that an accident had left one man dead and another injured.

A rock fall at the mine shortly after 4.30pm on Tuesday trapped the two men and triggered a rescue attempt by mine staff and a specialist team from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

One man was rescued and taken to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield but the company confirmed his colleague had died at the scene.

In a statement the company said its thoughts were with the families involved and would release more information as the facts became clear.

It is the third death at the Kellingley mine in four years and follows a methane explosion in November last year which caused production to be suspended for around two weeks.

For the first half of the year UK coal made a pre-tax profit of £22.1m compared to a £93.2m loss in the same period the previous year.