Rescuers pump 6,000 gallons a minute in race to find missing West Virginia miner
Rescuers are racing to find a miner who's been trapped in a flooded West Virginia coal mine for days.
Crews are pumping out thousands of gallons of water per minute at the Rolling Thunder Mine to help locate the miner after the site flooded Saturday, according to West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
"There is still a lot of water, but every conceivable effort, from what we've seen, is being put in to get rid of that water," Morrisey said during a news conference Tuesday night.
"This is still a rescue mission, and it's focused on trying to retrieve the miner," the governor added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Morrisey said in a post on X that crews were pumping water at a rate of approximately 6,000 gallons per minute -- "a significant increase from earlier efforts as additional pumps became available," the governor said.
"This is another step forward in the ongoing effort to reach the missing miner. As water levels continue to drop, crews are also advancing on the drilling portion of the rescue as they prepare for additional heavy equipment to arrive," he added.
The identity of the miner has not been publicly released.
Morrisey said on Monday that dive teams were working to find pockets of air where the miner may be located.
"This has been an around-the-clock response since Saturday, and we're going to continue to do everything imaginable to help," said Morrisey. "We're going to continue to push because we want to make sure that we give the miner every opportunity to live."
Nicholas County Commissioner Garrett Cole posted a statement on Facebook Sunday night, saying that the missing miner was helping his crew escape to safety.
"According to state wide reporting, the missing miner is said to be a foreman of a crew who worked to ensure that everyone on his crew was getting out of the mine but got trapped behind," he said.
Rolling Thunder Mine is operated by Tennessee-based Alpha Metallurgical Resources, which operates 19 underground and surface mines across West Virginia and Virginia, according to its website.
A spokesperson for Alpha Metallurgical Resources did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
The weekend episode at Rolling Thunder Mine is the second mining incident in West Virginia this month, following the death of a miner at a different mine on Thursday, according to Morrisey.
"Our coal miners are among the hardest-working and most courageous people in our state. They represent the strength, humility, and resolve that define West Virginia. We owe these men and women an enduring debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to power our communities and our nation," Morrisey posted on Facebook.
