Kentucky mine roof collapses, '1 dead'

CHICAGO - A miner died after part of the ceiling collapsed today deep inside a coal mine in eastern Kentucky, the AP news agency reported.

An earlier Reuters report said a miner was trapped at the Maverick Mining Co. LLC mine in Pikeville.

The cause of the roof collapse 275 metres from the entrance to was not yet known, said Chuck Wolfe of the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing.

Last week, an explosion in a West Virginia mine trapped 12 coal miners who asphyxiated from carbon monoxide gas.

Roof collapses in coal mines were "not uncommon" occurrences, Wolfe said, though each mine has a roof support plan.

- REUTERS, HERALD ONLINE STAFF