One dead, two injured in mud rush incident at New Afton Mine near Kamloops

KAMLOOPS – One person has died in an industrial accident at the New Gold owned New Afton Mine just west of Kamloops.

The company says the person was killed in a mud rush incident. Three people were involved. Two New Gold employees suffered non-life-threatening injuries while the third employee, a contract driller, is presumed dead.

The incident occurred at 1:40 am this morning (Feb. 2). The on-site emergency management system was activated immediately. RCMP and provincial safety authorities were contacted and are now on site.

A mud rush is a sudden and unexpected release of waterlogged earth materials into shallow mine workings.

The company says all activities have been suspended while an investigation is conducted into the incident.

The name or hometown of the contractor killed has not been released.