Two previous deaths linked to coal mine where worker died in Southern Illinois

Federal mine safety officials have investigated two prior deaths in connection with the Hamilton County underground coal mine where a miner died over the weekend, according to mine safety reports.

Cameron Fourez, 41, of West Frankfort, died early Saturday due to closed chest injuries he suffered when a coal mine roof collapsed, according to preliminary autopsy results released by Hamilton County Coroner Steve Bowling on Monday.

Fourez’s death in the coal mine near Mount Vernon is being investigated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Alliance Resource Partners LP is listed as the controller of the mine, according to an online listing posted by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A representative of Alliance Resource Partners LP could not be reached for comment on Monday.

The coal mine’s general manager gave WSIL-TV a statement that said the fatality occurred just after 2 a.m. Saturday at Hamilton No. 1 Mine, where an underground roof fell while an employee was installing supplemental roof support.

A representative of the Mine Safety and Health Administration could not be reached for comment Monday.

In a separate incident at the mine on Saturday night, five workers suffered smoke inhalation when a fire broke out in a “preparation plant” at the mine, according to reports by WSIL-TV and KFVS-TV. These workers were taken to a hospital but their conditions were not available.

Previous deaths

Online records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration show that a worker died at the mine in 2019 and another died in October 2015 after being injured in the mine in August 2015.

In the 2019 case, the federal records show that John D. Ditterline, 55, died on Jan. 5, 2019, because he “was pinned between a pneumatic airlock door and a concrete barrier.”

Bowling, the county coroner, ruled that Ditterline died because of cardiomyopathy and the manner of death was “natural.”

However, the federal agency reviewed the case and determined that it is “probable that the trauma of the accident triggered acute stress cardiomyopathy.”

The mine was given four citations in connection with Ditterline’s death, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration report.

The report also notes that “corrective action” had been taken regarding the pneumatic airlock doors in the mine.

In the 2015 case, a federal report shows that William E. Swain, 45, was injured when the discharge boom of a conveyor belt drive he was installing “fell and struck him on the left shoulder and neck area.”

“The discharge boom was in a raised position and was not securely blocked against motion,” the report stated.

Swain died on Oct. 1, 2015, after suffering cardiac arrest, and his death in a Murphysboro hospital was due to “complications from this accident.”

The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Fatality Review Committee later determined that Swain’s death should be attributed to what happened in the mine, and the agency issued a citation to the company.

“The mine operator has engaged in aggravated conduct constituting more than ordinary negligence,” the report states.

The report also notes that “corrective action” had been taken regarding miners working on or under equipment or machinery that is in a raised position.

Nationwide, the Mine Safety and Health Administration reports that Fourez’s death was the 13th mine-related fatality in the country this year. None of the previous deaths occurred in Illinois.