Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky has issued a state of emergency after an 11-story coal mine preparation plant was demolished, leaving one dead and one trapped in the rubble.
The Kentucky Emergency Management has stated it is working with several partner agencies to free the trapped man.
The situation looks grim, but rescue efforts are underway to free the man.
Two men were trapped on Wednesday morning after a structure collapsed at a coal preparation plant in Kentucky on Tuesday evening. Rescuers said they had made contact with one man but had not yet been able to free him.https://t.co/xGU2bdRC3g
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 1, 2023
The Associated Press News shares more on the story:
The building at Martin Mine Prep Plant in Martin County collapsed around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, trapping the men working there beneath multiple floors of concrete and steel. Teams were working to rescue them, Kentucky Emergency Management said in a news release on Wednesday. State emergency management officials were at the scene working with several partner agencies including urban search and rescue and technical rescue teams.
Officials didn’t release details about the extent of the other man’s injuries.
In a social media post Wednesday morning, Beshear said he had declared a state of emergency in the county — mobilizing state resources to help with the rescue. The governor asked for prayers for the safety of the workers and the rescue teams.
“Kentucky, keep praying — but the scene is bad,” Beshear said in a post about two hours later.
Many nationwide have come out to pray that the rescue efforts are successful.
Pray! 🙏🏼👇🏼👇🏼
State of Emergency in Kentucky as Workers Are Trapped Inside Collapsed Coal Plant https://t.co/MtmZ5aFgVb
— cris miller (@crismiller12) November 1, 2023
Frantic rescue mission is launched to save two Kentucky coal workers trapped under huge pile of rubble after coal processing plant they were demolishing COLLAPSED on top of them. 🙏🙏 https://t.co/npw4gjIZe0
— CJ4America2 (@GrammyC4Zone2) November 1, 2023
Gov. Beshear has put out a statement on his X profile:
For more information on the collapsed coal preparation plant in Martin County, read the @KentuckyEM release from earlier this morning: https://t.co/W9iVB5TAi2 pic.twitter.com/xy8xCO9ekA
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) November 1, 2023
The folks at Fox News cover more on the story:
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron also wrote on X, “We are monitoring the news out of Martin County. A coal preparation plant collapsed, and rescue efforts are underway. We ask Kentuckians join us in praying for the two workers who are trapped. We pray for our brave First Responders as they continue rescue operations.”
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and arrived about 10 minutes later to discover a 10-story coal preparation plant had collapsed while two men had been working inside, WYMT reported.
“This coal preparation plant has been out of commission for a while, for several years,” Martin County Sheriff John Kirk told the outlet. “It’s my understanding that the coal company sold it for basically scrap, and they were salvaging what they could out of it.”
The sheriff said the project preparing the structure for demolition had been ongoing for about eight months.
“They typically take these down in sections. They fall them, you know, cut torch and fall them in section,” the sheriff explained. “We believe that’s what happened. That it just didn’t fall the way they had projected it to fall and it actually closed around them.”
It’s a scary situation, and it doesn’t seem like anyone here is to blame.
That is the nature of some of these jobs.
They’re dangerous, and as much planning as you put into these controlled demolitions, there are just some variables you can’t anticipate.
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!