Fire Hits W.Va. Coal Mine; Two Miners Still Missing

Fire hits W.Va. coal mine; two miners still missing

MELLVILLE, W.Va. A fire broke out in an underground coal mine in southern West Virginia late Thursday and two workers were unaccounted for, authorities said.

The fire was reported at the Aracoma Coal Co. in Mellville, about 60 miles southwest of Charleston.

Jeff Gillenwater, a spokesman for the mines owner, Richmond, Va.- based Massey Energy, said the blaze began on a conveyer belt inside the mine and the mine itself was not on fire.

It is not a raging fire. It is a belt line fire that caused smoke in the coal mine, Gillenwater said. There are two individuals we are trying to find in the coal mine.

Gillenwater said there is clean air in several sections of the mine.

These two guys know this coal mine well, and were just hopeful mine rescue finds them quickly, he said.