Fumes kill four men at B.C. mine

KIMBERLEY, British Columbia – One of the four people found dead Wednesday at Teck Cominco’s decommissioned Sullivan mine had been missing for two days, authorities said.

The search for the missing man – a contractor who had been testing acid-tainted water at an enclosed pumping station – apparently led to the three other deaths, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. No one reported him missing until Wednesday morning, the agency said.

Mayor Jim Ogilvie said an employee of Teck Cominco Ltd., which owns the old mine, discovered the man floating in the well. After calling 911 to report a drowning, the worker tried to help the man but was overcome himself, Ogilvie said.

Two paramedics from the B.C. Ambulance Service who responded to the call also were overcome. Their bodies were found by members of the Kimberley Fire Department who followed up the initial emergency call.

“When they got to the site of the emergency … they found there were four people down at the time,” said Ogilvie. “They donned their gear to go into hazardous atmospheres and confined spaces. … They removed three people and one was left,” he said.

“The other three were transferred to hospital but I understand now that all four have been pronounced dead,” the mayor said.

Police confirmed that one body was still at the site. The coroner had declared the area unsafe until it was cleared by inspectors.

Ogilvie said he was told the four may have succumbed to hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas fatal in minute quantities. It was not clear who relayed that information to the mayor. Hydrogen sulfide gas is flammable and smells like rotten eggs. It is found in mineral waters and rotting materials.

Ogilvie said all four were from Kimberley, a mountain community of about 6,600 about 300 miles east of Vancouver.