The body of a coal miner has been found in a flooded West Virginia mine, the governor says

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The body of a coal miner with cap lamp on the head was found early Thursday in a mine that flooded in southern West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said.

Machines had been pumping water out of Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc.’s Rolling Thunder Mine near Belva, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the state capital of Charleston. The water receded enough for rescue crews to safely enter Thursday morning, and they found foreman Steve Lipscomb dead less than two hours later, Morrisey said in a statement.

Morrisey praised the crews who worked around the clock for days in hopes of a rescue.

“Our state knows this kind of pain all too well,” Morrisey said. “Mining is more than an industry here — it’s a brotherhood, a way of life, and a source of pride. When tragedy strikes, we grieve together, we stand together, and we support one another as one West Virginia family.”

A mining crew hit an unknown pocket of water on Saturday about three-quarters of a mile (1.2 kilometers) into the mine, which flooded after an old mine wall “was compromised,” Morrisey said. More than a dozen other miners were accounted for after the accident was reported.