CAMPBELL COUNTY, Wyoming (AP) – A tornado hit a large coal mining site in northeastern Wyoming, halting operations, but injured only eight and reported no deaths, officials said Saturday. .

The tornado hit the North Antelope Rochelle mine in Campbell County around 6 p.m. Friday during a combined storm that also brought tornadoes to neighboring counties.

of Gillette News Record reported Twelve empty trains were said to have overturned. Campbell County spokeswoman Leslie Perkins said the tornado occurred during a shift change at the mine and overturned several buses there to transport workers.

The Campbell County Fire Department responded to surface mining activity about 64 miles (103 km) south of Gillette.

Six were taken by ambulance to Gillette, one to Douglas, and one refused treatment. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

Deputy Sheriff Quentin Reynolds said a search by the mine’s search and rescue team, assisted by the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, revealed the whereabouts of all the workers.

Melissa Smith, a meteorologist and hydrologist at the National Weather Service’s office in Rapid City, South Dakota, said the storm system spread tornadoes throughout Campbell, Natrona, and Johnson counties.

“A tornado starts, descends, stays on the ground, and then comes back up,” Smith said.

Peabody Energy, headquartered in St. Louis and South Brisbane, Australia and operating the North Antelope Rochelle Mine, said six employees were receiving treatment in hospital as of 11 p.m. has been confirmed.

“Operations will be halted until we can fully assess the damage to the facility and begin the process of safely resuming operations,” Peabody said in a statement Saturday, without giving details of the damage caused by the tornado.