The Militant (logo)  
Vol.63/No.35       October 11, 1999  
 
 
Roof cave-in kills two miners in Ohio  
 
 
BY JAMES VINCENT 
CLARINGTON, Ohio — A roof cave-in killed two union coal miners and injured two other miners at the Powhatan No. 4 mine in Southeast Ohio. The two dead workers were identified as William Florence, 49, and Gerald Eble, 56. Both workers were members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).

The miners were working 700 feet underground when the roof collapsed September 24. According to union officials investigating the accident, the miners were killed while removing drainage pipes. No more details were provided. The cause of the accident is being investigated by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Ohio Division of Mines and Reclamation.

The mine, once one of the largest in the state, had been closed since May. A small maintenance crew had been working to close down the mine. Most of the 178 miners who worked there have been laid off.

The news of the miners' deaths traveled quickly through the coalfields. It was front page news in the area newspapers and the lead story on the TV and radio.

Powhatan No. 4 is owned by Consolidated Coal, the largest underground coal producer in the country and the fourth-largest U.S. coal company. In the past year, Consolidated Coal has cut back production, including closing and idling several mines in southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. This has resulted in hundreds of layoffs. In late August, Consolidated gave notices of layoff to nearly 400 union miners at its nearby Shoemaker Mine in Marshall County, West Virginia.  
 
 
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