Saskatoon — Few details have been made available concerning the death of a 28-year-old equipment operator in an accident the evening of June 25 in Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan’s Allan mine east of Saskatoon. The accident, which occurred during underground operations, is currently under investigation by the provincial mine inspector. PotashCorp is conducting its own internal investigation. Company spokesman Bill Johnson said the operator was struck by some mining equipment, and that no further details will be available until the investigations are completed. Mining operations were shut down immediately after the accident, but were ratcheting back up toward the end of the week. The accident victim was identified as Chris Reid of Saskatoon, who had been with the company for about six weeks. Circumstances surrounding the accident were sketchy, but there were reports that Reid was working as a backup operator and was positioned behind large boring machinery. Johnson did say that Reid was rendered unconscious, and that emergency efforts by the mine’s rescue unit failed to resuscitate him. “We don’t have too many details on the accident to release at this point other than to say that it is being investigated thoroughly, both by ourselves and by the (provincial) mine safety office,” he added. “It’s a sad day at our company. Right now we are focusing on the needs of the family and making sure our employees are safe at all time. Our primary concern now is that when we do start up, that it is done in a safe manner. Actually, as of May the Allan division had achieved 2 million hours without a lost-time incident.”
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