An accident in a Colorado mine field left two workers dead, while around 20 others sustained serious injuries in the southwestern town of Ouray.
According to officials who spoke with the Denver Post, the two deceased were allegedly killed by carbon monoxide poisoning.
During a news conference on Sunday night, authorities reported that they believed a gas leak, which streamed excess amounts of the deadly fumes into the workspace, might have been caused by a small explosion. But the exact reason for the event has not yet been publicized, and an investigation into the incident is still underway.
The 20 injured workers were rushed to hospitals in and around Ouray, and all but two were given medical attention and released, according to Ouray County spokesperson Marti Whitmore. Updates on the two workers who remained in the hospital were not yet been received, and it was still unclear whether the 10 of the people admitted to Montrose Memorial Hospital suffered from gas exposure.
Operations manager for Denver's Star Mine LLC Rory Williams told the Montrose Daily Press that all of the men who work in the mines are required to wear portable respirators. The two people who were killed were wearing their equipment when they were struck by carbon monoxide, adding that initial investigations seem to show the devices were fully working at the time.
Officers from the Ouray County sheriff's bureau were called to the Revenue-Virginius mine just after 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. The two men, who have been identified as 34-year-old Nick Cappanno of Montrose and 59-year-old Rick Williams of Durango, were pronounced dead later that day.
"I knew both of these individuals personally," Rory Williams said. "They were hard-working men. They were great men. They will be remembered indeed."
Williams, who has no relation to the deceased Rick Williams, also said that the accident was not caused by a cave-in or mine collapse.
"I believe a blast was involved which did create some gases which potentially the miners did inhale," Williams told the Daily Press.
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration arrived to investigate the mine, located around 270 miles southwest of Denver, on Monday.
