UPDATE, 10 a.m. — Martin County Sheriff John Kirk has confirmed to Mountain Top News that one of the men trapped in the building has died. The man’s identity has not yet been released. We are working to bring you more details shortly.
PILGRIM, Ky. — Two men working in the demolition of an abandoned coal mine have been trapped, after an 11-story coal prep plant collapsed on top of them Tuesday evening.
Rescue crews from across Eastern Kentucky are working to find the men, who are believed to be trapped in the rubble of the concrete and steel building, located near the Middle Fork of Wolf Creek.
Martin County Judge-Executive Lon Lafferty issued a state of emergency just before 1:30 a.m. requesting state resources to assist in the rescue effort. Just before 6:30 a.m., Gov. Andy Beshear signed an emergency declaration directing any state resources to the effort.
“Kentucky, keep praying — but the scene is bad and we should be prepared for tough news out of Martin County,” Gov. Beshear said in a subsequent post.
Following the governor’s order, Kentucky Emergency Management released the following statement detailing the help that is arriving:
“Col. Jeremy Slinker, the Director of Kentucky Emergency Management, is on scene and working the incident as part of a unified command with several partner agencies. KYEM Assistant Director of Operations Dustin Heiser is also on scene manning KYEM’s Mobile Command Vehicle. KYEM Area Manager Region 8 Chris Hecker, AM 7 Jason York and AM 5 Marti Burton are also on the scene supporting local search and rescue efforts, along with:
- “Jefferson County Urban Search and Rescue;
- “Lexington Fire Department Special Operations Unit;
- “The National Guard’s Special Tactics Squadron K9 search dog; and
- “The Northern Kentucky Technical Rescue Team.”
KYEM is also sending a mobile command unit and bottled water for first responders.
This is a developing story. Mountain Top News has a reporter on the way to the scene and will bring you further updates, as they happen.
