GARY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Additional details have emerged regarding the mid-August death of a McDowell County mine foreman who was reported to have drowned on the job.
The recently announced fatality report released by the Mine Safety and Health Administration indicates that, on August 18, 2023, a section foreman at Twin State Mining Inc.’s Mine No. 39 was found unresponsive while lying in approximately eight inches of mud and water.
The foreman is said to have been installing hose for a dewatering pump at the time of his death, which was reported as having occurred as a result of drowning. According to initial findings by MSHA, however, the employee’s passing was attributed to unspecified medical issues.
MSHA received the employee’s certificate of death on September 26, 2023, and found initial findings to have been in direct conflict with the certificate, which list’s the cause of death as “drowning.” The death was the second mining death this year to have been classified as a drowning.
“After further investigation and review, MSHA has decided that this death should be charged to the mining industry,” read the Fatality Report from MSHA.
Preliminary reports identified the victim as Christopher R. Finley – 39 years old of Princeton, WV – and noted the time of death as 11:40pm on August 18, 2023. The time of the accident which led to Finley’s passing is listed in the report as 9:30pm.
Finley is reported to have had 15 years of mining experience at the time of his death, though only nine weeks of experience at the mine site itself.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for the McDowell County area can be found here.
