Man dead after bulldozer hits ice, slides down embankment at Yukon mining site

A Yukon placer miner is dead after the bulldozer he was driving hit a patch of ice and rolled down a steep embankment.

A news release from Yukon's chief coroner on Tuesday morning says 41-year-old Richard Matthew "Red" Cull died in the accident on Friday.

It happened at a Stuart Placer Ltd. mining operation near Black Hills Creek, about 73 kilometresfrom Dawson City.

According to chiefcoroner Heather Jones, Cull was driving a D-10N Caterpillar bulldozer on the Black Hills Creek Road toward camp when he hita patch of ice. The machine slid off the road onto a steep embankment and rolled down.

"The vehicle continued to travel, now in reverse approximately 250 feet, sliding down a second embankment and traveling another 450 feet before coming to a stop," the release states.

Cull was found dead in the cab of the bulldozer where it had come to a stop.

The coroner says Cull wasa "seasoned heavy duty operator" at placer mining operations in the area.

RCMP and the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board are investigating along with the coroner.