Trapped Australian coal miner cuts off his arm with Stanley knife

AN Australian miner cut off his own arm with a Stanley knife rather than wait for rescuers after he was pinned under a tractor in a coal mine in the New South Wales Hunter Valley north of Sydney, police said yesterday.

Miner Colin Jones, 43, was operating the tractor three kilometres underground in West Wallsend Colliery near Killingworth late on Saturday when the vehicle laden with three tonnes of limestone dust hit a hole on a sharp bend in the mine shaft and rolled over.

Another worker found Mr Jones trapped by the shattered arm, which was almost severed.

Police say Jones then went ahead and cut through his arm below the elbow rather than wait for rescuers to arrive.

Local area police commander Michael Kenny said the miner may have decided to sever his arm because he was worried about the possibility of crush injury or the vehicle catching fire.

“Our inquiry is still continuing in relation to the industrial accident itself,” he said.

The Department of Mineral Resources is also investigating the incident.

Mr Jones was flown by rescue helicopter to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital, where he underwent surgery. Doctors had hoped to re-attach his arm but were unsuccessful, a spokesman for the mineworkers’ union said.

“They were unable to save his arm because of the extent of the crush injuries,” Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) district official Les Yates said.

A spokesman for the mine refused to comment, saying the incident was under investigation.

The accident followed the celebrated incident in the United States two months ago in which rock climber Aron Ralston, 27, was forced to amputate his right arm below the elbow with a pocket knife after it was pinned under a boulder for five days.