Underground Coal Mine In West Virginia Flooded, 1 Worker Trapped

Illustration. Mining workers. (Unsplash-MiningWatch Portugal)

JAKARTA - Floods hit an underground coal mining area belonging to Rolling Thunder in West Virginia, USA. A worker was reportedly caught in a flood that entered the mining area.

Citing ABC News, Monday, November 10, West Virginia state officials said emergency response officers were struggling to evacuate victims by pumping water out of the mining area.

Officers also used underwater drones on Sunday to reach the point where victims were to save them.

Nicholas Regional CommissionerBaysonin his Facebook post said the flood was allegedly caused by a worker who hit an unknown water bag on Saturday last week.

The incident occurred about three-quarters of a mile into the Rolling Thunder mine near Drennen, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the state capital

The strands of miners affected when the incident occurred have been evacuated and reported to the regional emergency management department at around 13.30 on Saturday.

Until now, it is still unknown how wide the flood is in the mining area.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey added the mine was flooded after the old mining wall was "rustrated".

Rolling Thunder is known to be one of 11 underground mines operated in West Virginia by Tennessee-based Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc..

The company also operates four surface mines in the state, as well as three underground mines and one surface mine in Virginia.