A coal mine explosion in south-eastern Kentucky early on Saturday killed five people, a US mine safety official said, making this the deadliest year for the US coal country since 2001.
The explosion happened about 1:30 am at a mine operated by Kentucky Darby LLC, Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said. State and federal mine safety officials were dispatched to the scene, she said. "One (miner) walked out on his own and everyone is accounted for now," she said, adding that she did not know the condition of the surviving miner.
The fatalities from the blast in mountainous Harlan County, near the border with Virginia, raised the death toll in US coal mines to 31 this year, up from 22 last year, according to MSHA.
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