Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 10, 1993                   TAG: 9309100248
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RIPPLEMEAD                                LENGTH: Medium

ROCK FALL KILLS 2 IN GILES COUNTY LIMESTONE MINE

Don Cumbee, general accounting manager for the Big Stony Creek plant, said the rock fall occurred about 4 p.m.

The mine and manufacturing plant are about five miles from U.S. 460 on Virginia 635.

The men were identified as Timothy Wayne Francis, 41, of Peterstown, W.Va., and Brian Keith Ratcliffe, 28, of Pearisburg. Francis had worked for the company for more than 15 years, and Ratcliffe was hired in November 1987, Cumbee said.

The miners were working a jumbo drill when the rock fell on the drill, smashing the equipment and crushing the men, Cumbee said. It appears the rock fell from the roof between a bedding plane and a joint, but federal investigators will make a definite determination, Cumbee said.

Investigators were arriving at the site Thursday night, and a mine safety team is expected today.

The men worked the second shift, which began at 3 p.m. The Giles Rescue Squad arrived about 15 minutes after the accident and was underground by 4:30 p.m.

Late Thursday, the bodies had not been recovered because the area was being "safed up," or secured, for the investigation, Cumbee said.

"As you can imagine, everybody is pretty shook up," Cumbee said. "We've never had a fatality."

The rock fall happened at the 14th East Main Tunnel. The accident occurred about 3\ to four road miles into what Cumbee characterized as "a very vast mine."

State and federal mine officials were contacted, Cumbee said, and all mining operations were stopped pending an investigation after the Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a "K-order" to cease operations.

Cumbee said surface mine operations have occurred at the plant since the 1920s, and underground operations began in 1948. APG Lime Corp. has operated the facilities since 1988.

There are 94 hourly employees working at the two-shift plant, plus an additional 29 sales and staff employees. The mine was last inspected on Aug. 12, Cumbee said.

Cumbee said the rock fall was not the result of blasting.

APG Lime Corp., a subsidiary of AP Green, based in Mexico, Mo., mines the limestone, then converts it to lime at its manufacturing plant.