Mine manager Malcolm Fyfield has been charged with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter over the deaths of four miners in the Gleision Colliery accident, which happened Sep. 15 2011 at an underground mine operated by MNS Mining Ltd. in South Wales, UK.
The accident occurred while seven miners were working with explosives on a narrow coal seam. Following an initial explosion, the tunnel in which the miners were working began to fill with water. Three of the miners escaped, with one being taken to hospital with life threatening injuries, while the others were trapped underground. A search and rescue operation was launched to locate the four remaining miners, but they were found deceased the following day.
The incident is considered the worst mining disaster in Wales in the last three decades.
MNS Mining Ltd has also been charged for the four deaths and will have to appear at court, reports BBC News.
