Safety fears raised at coal mine

A section of mine where a worker died when a tunnel wall collapsed on him was being repaired because of safety fears.

Anthony Carrigan, 42, from Thorne near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, died when he was trapped under coal at Daw Mill Colliery in Arley, north Warwickshire.

He is the third worker to die at the mine in the past eight months.

Stuart Oliver, from the mine’s owners UK Coal, said the three deaths were completely unrelated and a thorough investigation would take place.

‘Exemplary record’

“There has been discussions for some time about the condition of this roadway and that is why there was people carrying out repairs and other work,” said Mr Oliver.

“The three deaths here have all been in different circumstances. A cluster of fatalities is unheard of I think, particularly at a pit that until June last year had an exemplary safety record.”

The firm had been in talks with the Democratic Union of Mineworkers about the roadway where the collapse took place.

Mr Carrigan had only been at Daw Mill for one week but was an experienced miner who worked for a specialist contracting firm.

The tunnel had all stability measure in place, Mr Oliver said.

The latest accident follows the death of a worker who was overcome by methane in an unused part of the mine in June 2006 and the death of another worker in August who fell from a vehicle he was riding on in the mine.

As well as the UK Coal investigation, the Health and Safety Executive is also investigating.