Two workers are dead following an 11-story building collapse in Kentucky that prompted a dayslong rescue effort.
The incident happened Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. at the Martin Mine Prep Plant, according to a news release from Kentucky Emergency Management. The two workers became trapped under multiple floors of concrete and steel, and a number of teams had been working to rescue them.
Gov. Andy Beshear previously declared a state of emergency and ordered the state to mobilize resources to rescue the workers. The governor had announced that the first man, Billy Ray Daniels, died on Wednesday. Exhaustive search efforts continued throughout the week in hopes of saving the other man.
The governor confirmed the death of the second worker, Alvin Nees, on Friday.
"I am sad to report that the second worker trapped inside the collapsed coal preparation plant in Martin County has died. This is a heartbreaking situation and I hope everyone will join Britainy and me in praying for the families of these two workers and this entire community," Beshear wrote on X. Britainy is the governor's wife.
Daniels was originally located alive, but officials said he died during rescue efforts, according to The Associated Press. They had not had any communication with Nees since the building collapsed, according to Martin County Judge Executive Dr. Lon Lafferty.
The families of both men had visited the site, AP said.
Lafferty said in a news conference that both bodies had been located.
"This is not the outcome that we had hoped for, that we had prayed for," said Lafferty. "But we knew going in that this was a very grim and very difficult situation."
The two workers had been working to prepare the building for demolition.
An investigation into what caused the building's collapse is ongoing.
