Search continues for miner trapped inside flooded mine in WV, governor calling in national experts

by Amelia Ferrell Knisely, West Virginia Watch
November 10, 2025

A massive search operation is underway for a coal miner who was trapped after water flooded a Nicholas County, West Virginia mine over the weekend. Rescue crews continue to focus on removing the water as quickly as possible after diving teams made multiple rescue attempts. 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey said all resources, including national experts, have been made available to rescue crews at the Alpha Metallurgical Resources’ Rolling Thunder mine.

“We’ve been doing whatever we can. There is nothing that we would spare to try to save the life of the miner,” Morrisey said during a news conference Monday.

A mining crew hit an unknown pocket of water Saturday about three-quarters of a mile into the mine near Drennen, Nicholas County Commissioner Garrett Cole said in a Facebook post.

All other miners involved were able to safely evacuate except for the one who is still unaccounted for, Cole said.

“May God’s will be done, but it is our sincere prayer that it is to keep this miner safe and returned to his family, friends and coworkers,” he posted.

MetroNews reported that the flood happened after the seal to an old mine works gave way, but it’s unclear if that is where the water was backed up, leading to the flood. 

Morrisey said there have been concerns with removing water at the same time as dive crews were searching in the mine, so the efforts on Monday were more focused on lowering the water levels.  

“This is a very serious situation dealing with not only the water, but what happens with the gas and the lack of oxygen in an area. And, we also want to make sure we’re protecting the safety of the … divers who are going down there,” he said. 

The governor said that he is working with a number of state and federal agencies as well as the National Cave Rescue Commission to access any available resource to help with the complicated rescue. Specially-trained rescuers are needed to perform the difficult search into the dark and flood mine.  

“I’ve personally been in touch with people around West Virginia and across the country in an effort to try to make sure, if there’s anything humanly we can do to save the miner’s life, we want to do it,” Morrisey said.

The United Mine Workers of America issued a statement about the situation in Nicholas County on Monday, saying, “The coal mining family has suffered two incidents in the last week in West Virginia: a fatality in Tucker County and now a missing miner in Nicholas County. I have ordered our safety experts to the Rolling Thunder mine in Nicholas County to provide professional assistance to the teams working to find the missing miner.”

“The hearts and prayers of the entire United Mine Workers of America family go out to these miners and their families. ” the statement continued. 

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.