Hundreds mourn death of Scots miner

HUNDREDS of friends, relatives and colleagues of a Scottish miner who died after a roof collapsed in a pit said farewell to him at his funeral yesterday.

Gerry Gibson’s coffin was carried into Selby Abbey in North Yorkshire, with a miner’s helmet and fluorescent yellow vest placed on top.

Gibson, 49, from Shotts, Lanarkshire, but who lived in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire, died last week when he and a colleague were trapped by a rockfall in Kellingley Colliery near Knottingley.

Yesterday the mourners were led by his wife Brenda and his eldest son Sean, who followed his coffin into the abbey, which was packed for the Requiem Mass.

A major rescue operation was launched 2,625ft (800 metres) underground following the roof collapse on 27 September.

Rescuers pulled out his colleague, Phil Sheldon, who suffered minor injuries after being trapped by his leg. Gibson was pronounced dead at the scene.

An inquest last week heard that he died from asphyxiation.

His family have said they were devastated by his death and paid tribute to all those involved in the rescue effort.

A spokesman for the Scottish National Union of Mineworkers said he would be “sorely missed”.

Gibson’s death was the third at Kellingley in three years.