One Person Dead After Collapse at Kentucky Coal Plant

One man was dead and another was missing after a structure collapsed at a coal preparation plant in eastern Kentucky on Tuesday evening.

Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed the death on Wednesday morning. “Kentucky, we have some tough news out of Martin County to share,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “At least one of the workers trapped inside the collapsed coal preparation plant has died. Please pray for the family and loved ones of this individual.” The man was not identified.

The structure, an 11-story coal tipple, which is used to load coal for transport, was being dismantled by two workers when it collapsed about 6:30 p.m., reported The Mountain Citizen, a newspaper in Martin County. The men were on the ground floor and were buried under tons of rubble.

Rescuers said that they had made contact with a trapped man, but that they were not able to free him. “Unfortunately the gentleman that was talking with us, he passed away just a little bit ago,” Sheriff John Kirk of Martin County told reporters on Wednesday morning.

He said that the other worker had not been located and that a search was ongoing.

Sheriff Kirk told The Mountain Citizen that the effort could take days. The authorities would not speculate about the cause of the collapse. The plant had not been in use for several years.

“They all have one goal, and they’re all risking their lives,” Sheriff Kirk said of the rescuers. “Unless you see for yourself what the scene entails, you cannot understand the danger involved in this recovery.”

“This is a lot of rubble; at a coal preparation plant you have steel and concrete,” Sheriff Kirk said in an interview broadcast on WSAZ news. “The building has collapsed all around them.”

Mr. Beshear declared a state of emergency in the county on Wednesday. The order will mobilize state resources to help in the rescue efforts.