Only 1 survivor rescued from W. Va. coal mine

BREAKING NEWS

Updated: 6:44 a.m. ET Jan. 4, 2006

 

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, mining officials told family members early Wednesday that 11 of the 12 trapped coal miners initially thought to have survived a mine explosion had died.

 

The devastating news came more than three hours after Gov. Joe Manchin announced he had been told 12 of the miners survived the disaster. Rescue crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.

 

“About the confusion, I can’t tell you of anything more heart-wrenching than I’ve ever gone through in my life. Nothing,” Manchin said.

 

The sole survivor of the disaster, identified by mining officials as 27-year-old Randal McCloy, was hospitalized in critical condition early Wednesday, a doctor said. When he arrived, he was unconscious but moaning, the hospital said.

 

“It’s sorrow beyond belief,” International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield said during a news conference.

 

Families gathered at the Sago Baptist Church began running out of the church and crying just before midnight, yelling “They’re alive!” After two days of keeping vigil, they celebrated joyfully as church bells rang in jubilation.

 

As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing there were no others.

 

The governor later indicated he was uncertain about the news at first. When word of survivors began circulating through the church, he hadn’t heard it, he said.

 

“All of a sudden we heard the families in a euphoric state, and all the shouting and screaming and joyfulness, and I asked my detachments, I said, ’Do you know what’s happening?’ Because we were wired in and we didn’t know,” Manchin said.

 

'Miscommunication'

Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a “miscommunication.” The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs. But what leaked out to anxious family members was that 12 were found alive.

 

“That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center,” he said.

 

Three hours later, Hatfield told the families that “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.

 

“There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door,” said Nick Helms, son of miner Terry Helms.

 

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. About a dozen state troopers and a SWAT team were positioned along the road near the church because police were concerned about violence. A Red Cross volunteer, Tamila Swiger, told CNN people were breaking down and suffering panic attacks.

 

Fact file: Coal mining’s high stakes

 

The explosion was the state’s deadliest mining accident since November 1968, when 78 men — including the uncle of Gov. Joe Manchin — died in an explosion at Consol’s Farmington No. 9 mine in Marion County, an hour’s drive north of here. Nineteen bodies remain entombed in the mountain. It was that disaster that prompted Congress to pass the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.

 

It was also the worst nationwide since a pair of explosions tore through the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 mine in Brookwood, Ala. on Sept. 23, 2001, killing 13.

 

Miners created barrier

The 12 miners were found together behind a barrier they had constructed to block carbon monoxide gas. They were found near where the company had drilled an air hole early Tuesday in an attempt to contact the men.

 

The 12 miners had stretched a piece of fabric across an area about 20 feet wide to block out the gas, Hatfield said. The fabric is designed for miners to use as a barrier. Each miner had carried a breathing apparatus and had been able to use it, according to mining officials.

 

The hole also was used to check air quality in the mine, which revealed high concentrations of carbon monoxide. The odorless, colorless gas can be lethal at high doses. At lower levels, it can cause headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, fatigue and brain damage.

 

Manchin, who had earlier said that the state believed in miracles, tried to focus on the news that one had survived.

 

“We’re clinging to one miracle when we were hoping for 13,” he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10682163/

What really sucks about this is how someone told the families that their loved ones were alive and okay. They got so excited and relieved and was probably even thanking god. But then to find out later on that they are dead and only one survived but might die soon. THAT WOULD SO SUCK and is so messed up.

It's kinda hard for me to feel sorry for the Coal miners. THey know the risk. People die in the mines every year. Im sorry that they died but its like being sorry for someone who jumps out of the plane and their parachute doesn't open. Or someone who chases wild bears or alligators and ends up being ate. Again i do feel sorry kinda that they died.

I feel more sorry for the families who had to go through that. I couldnt even imagine what it'd be like to go through that rollercoaster ride.

Edited January 4, 200620 yr by Josh