Miner who plunged 400 metres to his death is remembered as a ‘true gentleman’

A veteran miner who died in a tragic workplace incident has been remembered as a “true gentleman” by his grieving family and friends.

Craig Hugo, 59, fell 400 metres to his death while carrying out rehabilitation work on top of a decommissioned mine shaft at Ellalong in the Hunter region of New South Wales on Tuesday.

Rescuers launched a massive operation and were able to recover his body from the former Austar coal mine, owned by Yancoal, on Wednesday.

The shaft is believed to have once been an elevator shaft, but has not been operational since 2021 and closure works are still underway at the site.

The difficult recovery, which required a crane to recover Mr Hugo’s body, involved specialist members of the NSW Police, NSW Mines Rescue Service and NSW Ambulance.

The crane was less than a meter higher than the depth of the mine.

At the bottom of the well there was a pool of water 50 metres deep, into which rescue teams descended with oxygen tanks to recover Mr Hugo.

His friends and family called the accident a “total tragedy.”

Mr Hugo’s son Cooper shared a tribute to his father on social media, describing how his family… Lives had been “changed forever.”

“We lost our father, our best friend and the man we admired most. There are no words to describe the pain and suffering we feel right now,” she wrote.

Dad, we will love you always and forever.

Mr. Hugo’s co-workers responded to Cooper’s tribute by saying that “we all feel the loss.”

“Your loss is felt by many of us whose lives were impacted by your father as a friend, co-worker and just a great guy,” one co-worker wrote.

“I’m not saying this will make things easier for your family.”

Another member of Mr. Hugo’s family he told the Daily Telegraph that was “one of a kind.”

“The world will be a little less bright without him. It is difficult to understand such a tragedy,” they said.

Mr Hugo, originally from Cessnock, worked for 19 years at Yancoal and managing director David Moult expressed his ‘our sincere condolences’ to all those affected by his death.

“I know Craig’s loss will also be deeply felt by many members of the Yancoal workforce and we are also providing support to our employees during this time,” he said.

‘Our top priority is always the health, safety and well-being of our employees and site workers.

‘Yancoal would like to thank the emergency services, mine rescue organisations, regulatory bodies, personnel and contractors who assisted in the recovery operations.’