Pit plunge death probe

A POST-MORTEM examination was due to be carried out today on the body of a worker who is believed to have been killed in a fall down a Rotherham pit shaft.

Jackie Fisher (52) was pronounced dead after emergency crews and a specialist mines and rescue team were called to the pit in Maltby at around 5pm on Monday.

A fire service spokesman said that firefighters from Maltby, Edlington and a technical rescue unit had attended the scene and had worked with the Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team.

“Crews were sent to work alongside the Ambulance Service and from what I understand the man fell down the mine shaft,” he said. 

The incident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and South Yorkshire Police.

Mr Fisher, who was married and from the Doncaster area, had worked at Maltby, the last  colliery in Rotherham,  since 1985. He had previously worked at the Yorkshire Main pit in Doncaster.