PIKEVILLE, Ky., Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A worker installing roof bolts at a coalmine near Pikeville, Ky., was killed Tuesday when a huge chunk of the roof fell and trapped him, a report said.
Cornelius Yates, 44, of Shelbiana, Ky., was working in a protective cage known as a roof bolting machine and installing metal rods, or "bolts," to secure the roof when a 20 by 10 by 4½-foot chunk came down.
Initial reports said Yates, who was working about 900 feet inside Maverick Mining LLC's No. 1 mine, was trapped by the debris and communicated with co-workers immediately following the collapse, the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader reported.
Yates, the state's first mine fatality of 2006, was pronounced dead about two hours after rescuers entered the mine, officials said.
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher expressed condolences to the miner's family and said the state is committed to improved mine safety.
No violations were issued in the most recent inspection of the mine, the newspaper reported.
