U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis has promised a thorough investigation into the death of an Idaho silver miner whose body was recovered from the Lucky Friday Mine nine days after a ceiling collapse more than a mile under the surface.
The body of 53-year-old Larry Marek was found on Easter Sunday, and it appeared he died during the initial cave-in on April 15.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration will investigate the cause of the ceiling collapse at the mine, which is located near Mullan. Hecla Mining Company also will investigate the cause.
Crews worked around-the-clock since the cave-in, drilling rescue tunnels toward Marek’s last reported position in hopes he had been trapped in an area where the ceiling did not collapse.
It is the mine’s first fatality since 1986.
The mine has been shut down since the cave-in, and Hecla did not say when it would resume production. (AP)
