Bulldozer Driver Dies At Consol Mine In W.Va.

CAMERON, W.Va. (AP) - Officials say a worker has died after an accident at a West Virginia coal mine.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration says a bulldozer operator died Thursday at Consol Energy's McElroy Mine. Agency spokeswoman Amy Louviere says the operator was pinned between the bulldozer and a water truck. The vehicles are owned by separate contractors, not Consol.

Louviere says the man was connecting a tow chain to the truck when the dozer rolled backward, pinning him. He was alive when freed, but died before he could be flown to a hospital.

His name has not been released.

A message left for Canonsburg, Pa.-based Consol was not immediately returned.

West Virginia's first mining fatality of 2011 occurred last week in Wyoming County.