Indiana Mine Shaft Fall Kills 3

Three workers riding in a construction bucket plunged 500 feet to their deaths in an Indiana coal mine shaft today. The “sinking bucket” can hold up to 10 people, but authorities did not say whether anyone else was in the lift. It was also unclear whether the bucket itself fell or the victims were thrown from it, the AP reports.

A construction company was building a 550-foot vertical ventilation shaft at the mine, 30 miles north of Evansville. The lift, a company spokesman said, is inspected daily. The Gibson County coal mine, which began production in 2000, is the second most prolific in the state. (More Indiana stories.)