Man dies in mine accident

WALLACE - A 29-year-old Pinehurst man was fatally injured during a Friday morning accident at the Galena Mine.

The Shoshone County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Timothy Allen Bush was the worker who died following the accident, which occurred around 8 a.m. Heather Bailey-Foster, executive assistant for the U.S. Silver Corporation, said Bush was a miner, but an employee of a mine contractor.

The Sheriff's Office was dispatched to the Galena mine at 8:38 a.m. for what originally was an unknown injury accident.

The next of kin have been notified, the mine safety and health administration is on site and the accident remains under investigation.

According to former Sunshine Mine Safety Manager Bob Launhardt, Bush's great-uncle, Bob Bush, died in the Sunshine fire. Bob, a foreman at the mine, was found at the 3,700 level.

Tim's grandfather, Jim Bush, survived.

Tim's uncle Chuck Bush died a few years ago in an accident at the Stillwater mine in Nye, Mont., according to Launhardt.

Bush attended the University of Montana before returning to the Silver Valley.

and was a formidable opponent on the football field. He is the university's all-time leader in sacks with 34.5, and tackles for loss with 50. Bush started at defensive end for Montana's 2001 squad that went 15-1 and won the Division I-AA Football Championship.