Public paper · October 14, 2026 · Mining desk
MSHA Preliminary Report: Contractor Killed by a Front-End Loader at the Cyber Square Industrial Sand Mining Operation Near Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 5
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration's preliminary report says a 30-year-old contractor died at 7:57 p.m. on October 5, 2026 after he was struck by a Caterpillar 966 front-end loader in the mill and prep plant area of Cyber Square, a surface industrial sand mining operation with a Shreveport address in Bossier Parish, Louisiana; MSHA classifies the death as powered haulage and its Dallas District is investigating.
noticenearby.com/papers/msha-cyber-square-bossier-parish-sand-plant-loader-fatality-oct-5.pdf
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), part of the U.S. Department of Labor, has posted a preliminary report on a death at Cyber Square, a surface mine producing industrial sand with a Shreveport address in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. MSHA classifies the accident as powered haulage.
According to MSHA, a contractor died after he was struck by a front-end loader. MSHA stresses that the report "is based on preliminary data ONLY and does not represent final determination regarding the nature of the incident or conclusions regarding the cause of the accident."
What the preliminary report says
- Date and time: October 5, 2026, 7:57 p.m. The time of death is listed as the same.
- Mine: Cyber Square, operated by Cyber Square, LLC, MSHA mine ID 16-01613. MSHA's fatality page lists the mine controllers as Blount Holdings Inc and Forward Air Control LLC.
- Commodity: industrial sand. MSHA's summary page lists the mined material as sand.
- Where it happened: the mill/prep plant area.
- Equipment: a Caterpillar 966 front-end loader.
- Victim: a 30-year-old contractor employee, whose regular job was haul truck driver and who was working as a plant helper at the time. He had about one year and eight weeks of mining experience, all at this mine. Notice Nearby is not publishing his name.
- Contractor: Bowlin Enterprises LLC of Shreveport, which reported 112 employees.
- People on site: 2 mine employees and 22 contractor employees. No one was unaccounted for.
- MSHA notified: 9:09 p.m. on October 5.
- Investigating office: MSHA's Dallas District, through its Broussard, Louisiana field office.
Two powered-haulage deaths in four days
MSHA's fatality list shows another powered-haulage death three days later, on October 8, 2026, at the Speed Mine, an underground coal mine in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Powered haulage covers accidents involving mobile equipment such as loaders, haul trucks and conveyors.
What comes next
On MSHA's fatality list, some other 2026 entries also carry a fatality alert in addition to the preliminary report. As of October 14, the October 5 entry shows only the preliminary report. Notice Nearby will not speculate on the cause; MSHA's investigation will determine it.
Source
- Mine Safety and Health Administration, "October 5, 2026 Fatality" and "October 5, 2026 Fatality – Preliminary Report" (Preliminary Report of Accident, MSHA Form 7000-13, prepared October 5, 2026), msha.gov/data-reports/fatality-reports/2026/october-5-2026-fatality.
- MSHA fatality reports list, msha.gov/data-and-reports/fatality-reports/search, retrieved October 14, 2026.
Notes and sources
- Image: An industrial sand mine and processing plant in the Town of Oakdale, Wisconsin (file photo, illustrative; not the Cyber Square operation in Louisiana). Photo: Wikideas1 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).
- Author: Ryan Standley / Record of Sale, LLC / Notice Nearby.
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Not legal advice. Not a newspaper. Not Legal Publication. Record of Sale, LLC (Oregon).