
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994                   TAG: 9407270080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KIMBALLTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

CREWS WORK TOWARD SITE OF CAVE-IN; NO SIGN OF LIFE

Federal and state mine safety crews continued to make their way into a Giles County limestone mine Tuesday evening, attempting to reach a foreman who was missing and presumed dead after a Monday rockfall.

The crews reached a jumbo drill that was being used by Jeffery Morgan, but had not found foreman Barry B. Snider as of Tuesday night. Morgan, 37, of Princeton, W.Va., was taken out of the mine Monday afternoon and is listed in satisfactory condition atRoanoke Memorial Hospital.

Reaching the rockfall is slow and tedious work, said Eastern Ridge Lime Co. officials, because the conditions worsen as workers get closer to the accident scene. Some supervisors have been at the mine since Monday morning, running on little or no sleep and on food donated by Hardee's restaurant.

Tom Creedle, vice president in charge of sales at the Goldbond mining plant, said conditions inside the mine were extremely hazardous, with rockfall debris varying from fist-size to dishwasher-size.

While fellow miners, family and friends were anxious for word on Snider, Creedle said work continued at what seems like a snail's pace because of safety concerns.

Creedle said they are trying to ensure the safety of federal and state investigators by making sure the roof and other areas of the mine are secure.

``We're obviously approaching the location with extreme caution,'' Creedle said. ``They are, from what I understand, near the accident site.''

Besides trying to find Snider, officials also are trying to determine what caused the rockfall.

``The investigation started the minute the federal and state people arrived on the scene,'' Creedle said.

``The closer they got to it the worse it got,'' he said. ``The conditions are not unexpected.''

Creedle said a time frame for reaching Snider would be ``pure conjecture.'' He said workers had seen no sign of life.

The rockfall happened at about noon Monday as all but Snider and Morgan had left for their lunch break at the mine lunchroom. When their co-workers went to check on them, they found that a large rock had fallen in the tunnel of the mine, which is off Virginia 684 near Pearisburg.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB