Coal mine deaths spike upward

Coal mining deaths soared to a 10-year high in 2006, reversing an 80-year trend of steadily falling fatalities and raising safety concerns as coal production reaches record levels.

Forty-seven miners died last year, more than double the 22 killed in 2005 and matching the number in 1995. The recent spike is the biggest percentage increase in 107 years, according to federal records dating to 1900.

“To all of a sudden spike up to 47, quite frankly I’m scratching my head,” says Bob Friend, deputy assistant secretary for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

“Clearly the number marks a disturbing departure” from the record-low number of deaths in 2005, says Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, a mining industry group.

USA Today