Two employees of a company that manages coal-handling operations for Xcel Energy’s Comanche Generating Station in Colorado were killed June 2 when they were trapped in a coal pile that collapsed at the power plant.

The collapse happened Thursday morning about 8:30 a.m. Mountain time, according to officials. Rescue crews located the victims Thursday afternoon. Officials said the victims, whose names were not immediately released, were working on the 80-foot-high pile of coal. Officials said it is not known what the workers, sub-contractors from Savage Services, were doing at the time of the incident.

Comanche is a three-unit coal-fired plant. Comanche’s 857-MW Unit 3 is the largest coal-burning unit in Colorado.  

Pueblo Fire Inspector and Public Information Officer Erik Duran told media, “EMS emergency services responders on site determined that [the victims] were dead on scene.” Duran said responders recovered the bodies of “two men, one in his 20s and one in his 30s. We reached the first victim at around 3 p.m.…

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