Charleston WV Personal Injury Law Blog

State coal mine safety officials say that the Alpha Natural Resources subsidiary White Buck Coal Company exposed workers to danger through using modified equipment related to a probe into a fatal coal mine accident in Greenbrier County, West Virginia that occurred last November. Safety officials issued the subsidiary an “imminent danger” order, according to the Charleston Gazette.

Authorities say that a 27-year-old coal miner was pinned between a continuous mining machine and a scoop in the fatal mine accident. Investigators say that a modification to a maintenance scoop was at the root in causing the fatal mining accident.

The girlfriend of a man who was killed early Sunday says that the couple decided to cross the tracks rather than use a walkway underneath the tracks due to fear of the safety of the walkway. City officials acknowledge that issues have surrounded the walkway. The public works director of Huntington, West Virginia says vandals had destroyed a row of lights that are intended to illuminate the walkway at night.

City officials say that the lights were replaced roughly two weeks ago. But a dispute exists as to whether or not the lights were on late Saturday night into early Sunday when a 55-year-old man was struck and killed by a train in Huntington.

Three people suffered injuries in a fiery wreck Thursday on the West Virginia Turnpike. Authorities say that the accident involved a head-on collision between a passenger vehicle and a FedEx truck. Preliminary investigative reports indicate that a southbound vehicle crossed over the median of the turnpike in Raleigh County, West Virginia shortly after 2:30 in the afternoon. The vehicle crossed into the path of a northbound tractor-trailer--the two vehicles collided head on, causing the FedEx semi to burst into flames.

Emergency responders arrived to find the semi ablaze after rolling over in the head-on collision. Crews say that the tractor trailer was carrying hazardous materials, including lithium. Lithium reportedly can be spontaneously flammable when exposed to water. Fire crews responding to the fiery truck wreck had to also deal with the hazardous material.

A head-on crash in South Charleston Monday night claimed the life of a Charleston, West Virginia official. Police say that an assistant city attorney was traveling to the west on MacCorkle Avenue, when for unknown reasons his car crossed the median and collided with a tractor-trailer. Authorities continue to investigate potential causes and contributing factors that may have been involved in the fatal truck accident.

The crash was reported around 11:30 Monday night on MacCorkle near Riverwalk Plaza in Charleston. Emergency responders found the 36-year-old man severely injured. Authorities do not know if the accident victim fell asleep while driving, or of other factors were involved in causing the man's F150 pickup truck to cross into oncoming traffic. Officials closed off the area for roughly two hours after the wreck.