Placer Dome mine fatality

The three men — Lionel Legault, 47, of South Porcupine, and Olgiery Skrzydlewski, 42, and Edmunt Grabowski, 54, both of Timmins, were killed when a stope they were working in on the 1,200-ft level of the mine collapsed and buried them under tons of rubble.

A fourth crew member was away from the stope at the time of the fall of ground.

Mine manager Robert Perry said it was still too early to speculate as to the cause of the rock fall.

He said it may have been caused by anything from a rockburst to some kind of geological unconformity. But it is well known, he added, that rockbursts are extremely rare in the Porcupine gold mining camp. He promised a full and complete investigation into the accident.

The investigation will be jointly conducted by Placer Dome, the Ontario ministry of Labor and Local 7580 of the United Steelworkers of America.

Coroner Dr Alexander Hukowich of Timmins said the three men died of multiple crush injuries. He said a coroner’s inquest into the death of the three men would be held according to Ontario law, but as yet no date for the inquest has been set.

The injuries suffered by the three men were so massive that rescuers could not tell which body was which.

In all, three mine rescue crews of six men each were dispatched to the 1,200-ft level, between the new Number 8 shaft and the old Number 3 shaft. The accident scene was accessible from either shaft, although the rescue crews used the Number 8 shaft because it was closer to the stope.

Perry made it a point to stress that the mishap was in no way caused by the practice of short- bolting, a practice that recently resulted in a fatal fall of ground at a Sudbury-area mine.

“Short-bolting has never been a problem,” Perry said of the mine. “We use only standard 6-ft bolts here.”

The accident was the second fatal mishap at the mine in less than a year. In May, 1988, a miner fell to his death down an ore pass.

All three of the miners were married, some with children. Perry described all the dead men as experienced and safe workers. Legault had 24 years mining experience, Skrzydlewski had 18 years, and Grabowski had 24 years.

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