FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Officials say one mine worker was killed and another injured by a falling tree at an eastern Kentucky surface mine.
A statement from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said 32-year-old Cecil T. Collett of Dryden, Virginia, was driving a pickup truck at the Colmar mine in Bell County on Tuesday when a tree fell from the high wall above the roadway and struck the vehicle.
Collett was pronounced dead and his passenger, 45-year-old Joshua Pendleton of Ewing, Virginia, suffered a broken hip and pelvis.
Officials say all mining operations at the site owned by Nally & Hamilton Enterprises Inc. were shut down while an investigation continues.
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