Question:
Rescuers to Push Deeper to Find Miners
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Jan 3, 12:36 PM (ET)
By JENNIFER C. YATES
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Rescue crews scrapped their conservative approach to free 13 trapped miners Tuesday after efforts to contact the men went unanswered and air samples showed continued high levels of contaminated air.
We determined with the cooperation of state and federal agencies that we can move forward and at a quicker pace and do it safely, said Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer of mine owner International Coal Group Inc. of Ashland, Ky.
We believe we were overly conservative before.
Hatfield said tests found that carbon monoxide levels far exceed federal regulatory limits in the Sago Mine.
He made the comments after rescuers trying to reach the trapped miners successfully punched a hole into the mine early Tuesday. A camera was inserted into the 6 1/4 inch hole to look for signs of life.
Drilling crews pounded on steel pipe and listened for a response in the section of the mine where the trapped miners were believed to be located, Hatfield said.
They repeated this process several times over a 10 minute period but the drill crew heard no response, Hatfield said.
Air monitors inserted into the mine found high concentrations of carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide levels measured 1,300 parts per million, exceeding the 400 parts per million maximum level that sustains life, Hatfield said.
Therefore we are very discouraged by the results of this test, Hatfield said.
The camera search of the area proved inconclusive, and evidence of extensive damage was not seen.
No barricades or survivors were seen, he said.
Still, Hatfield said the trapped miners could still be alive.
They could be in another location or they could be barricaded somewhere, Hatfield said.
Hatfield said officials abandoned plans to move in a camera-equipped track-mounted robot with sensors to measure air quality, saying that without the robot we can move forward and at a quicker pace and do it safely. The robot had become bogged down in mud inside the mine.
Family members, who had been optimistic and talkative with reporters, earlier retreated to the nearby Sago Baptist Church without making any comments.
Rescuers had penetrated 10,200 feet into the mine. The trapped miners are believed about 12,000 feet into the mine.
We will push forward as quickly as we can as long as there is a shred of hope that we can get our people out safely, Hatfield said.
Gov. Joe Manchin said West Virginians believe in miracles.
We still pray for miracles in West Virginia, Manchin said. There is still a chance and there's hope and we have that.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060103/D8ETBC8G0.html
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i hope they get out... seriously
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With every passing hour im really getting the feeling as if they are too late. I think i read in an different article that they've had no response from any of the trapped miners.
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^ that's heartbreaking
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I saw this on the news this morning...Even though there's little chance that anyone's alive, I hope they can rescue them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
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I pray they'll be ok
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what's sad, is some liberals are already blaming bush for the mining accident. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) they have NO shame
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what's sad, is some liberals are already blaming bush for the mining accident. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) they have NO shame
no end to the partisanship is there
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no end to the partisanship is there
nope, not anytime soon. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif)
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some good news! just when it looked bleak..
--
Family members say 12 miners found alive
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/03/mine.explosion/index.html
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (CNN) -- Twelve miners who have been trapped underground for more than 36 hours are alive, a friend of one of the men told CNN late Tuesday.
Friends and family members erupted in cheers and the town's church bells began ringing as the report became known
Believe in miracles, said West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, who has expressed optimism throughout the ordeal.
The friend of Terry Helms, one of the missing miners, told CNN's Anderson Cooper a mine official had come out and said, They've got 12 alive. The man, who did not give his name, said rescue crews were going into the mine.
Initially, 13 miners were trapped underground after an explosion about 6:30 a.m. Monday. The body of one of them was found Tuesday night as the search continued for the others.
Helms' niece, Michelle Mouser, told CNN mine officials and family members believe the body is that of her uncle.
Ben Hatfield, the CEO of International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine, said earlier there were signs that the other 12 were alive after the explosion and tried to make it out of the mine shaft.
Earlier, the mood was grim.
Informing families about the discovery of the body was a nightmare, Hatfield said.
Red Cross volunteer Tamila Swiger said she was in a nearby church when the missing miners' families were told about the body.
Everyone in the church is just devastated, she said, breaking down and suffering panic attacks.
Rachel Day, the daughter of Sago Baptist Church's pastor, said families are still holding on to that last thread of hope.
Hatfield told reporters late Tuesday that rescue crews found the body in the mine shaft about 11,250 feet from the main entrance.
The vehicle used by the miners was found about 700 feet beyond the body, he said, and rescue workers encountered no substantial debris.
The vehicle was not damaged by the explosion, and the 12 miners appeared to have exited it under their own power, he said.
That's a very good thing, he said. That's yet another glimmer of hope, but it raises a lot of questions as to where the employees might have gone.
He said the miners were each equipped with an hour's worth of oxygen, which should have gotten them to the outside.
Our hope is that they found an area and secured it, built barricades and were able to survive, he said.
Hatfield said at a press conference shortly after 9 p.m. that rescue crews had gone as far into the mine as they could with their self-breathing apparatus and would take a two to four-hour hiatus while we re-establish ventilation.
The miners were trapped early Monday after an explosion of unknown origin. They're believed to be about 260 feet below the surface at the end of an angled shaft about 2 miles long. (Interactive: Long path to accident site)
There had been no contact with the miners since Monday's blast.
'We believe in miracles'
Earlier, Manchin told reporters late Tuesday that the rescue effort is still an uphill battle, and still the odds are against us.
However, he said, We believe in miracles in West Virginia, and we are still hoping for that miracle.
Manchin -- whose uncle was killed in a mining accident in 1968 -- said officials were totally flabbergasted that the problem occurred in a part of the mine that was sealed off early last month.
That is where all of this happened. We don't know why, he said. There had to be methane gas or buildup of fuel, if you will, back there and something that sparked it.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Hatfield said the rescue effort would conclude only when all hope is lost.
Teams were also digging two six-inch holes into the coal mine, after completing an initial hole earlier in the day. They stopped about 20 feet short of reaching the mine to assure the safety of searchers underground, Hatfield said.
An air monitor dropped into the first hole, drilled 260 feet down into the mine, found carbon monoxide levels too high to support life, but officials said the miners could be in another area of the mine.
A robot that rescuers sent into the mine's entry tunnel ran into mud and other debris, slowing its progress. (Watch mine official's update in his own words -- 14:08)
Earlier Tuesday, Hatfield told reporters that rescue teams are moving forward at an accelerated pace and were performing better than the robot was.
We believe we were being overly conservative early on, he said.
Hatfield also said rescuers on the surface pounded on the drill that bored the first hole into the mine. It was placed in an area where the miners were thought to be at the time of the blast. There was no response.
Views from a camera dropped through the drill hole were inconclusive, Hatfield said.
Darker mood
Near the mine, the mood of hundreds of family members gathered Tuesday morning at the Sago Baptist Church darkened after officials briefed them. (Watch where relatives are waiting and weeping -- 1:05)
Nick Helms, son of trapped miner Terry Helms, was trying to hold his emotions in check as he spoke to CNN late Tuesday.
I just want to see my dad again, he said. I'm trying to keep it together as best I can. (On the Scene)
Anna McCloy, wife of missing 27-year-old miner Randy McCloy, said her husband had talked about changing careers.
He was only working to support me and the kids, she said.
Manchin said some of the drilling equipment being used Tuesday was also used in the July 2002 rescue of nine miners in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Those miners were pulled to safety after being trapped for 77 hours in a flooded mine. (Full story)
In Washington, President Bush said he had spoken with Manchin and assured him that the federal government will help the folks in West Virginia any way we can.
May God bless those who are trapped below the earth, and may God bless those who are concerned about those trapped, Bush said at the White House.
Mining deaths on the decline
Manchin said 2005 was the safest year in the state's history of mining.
According to the U.S. Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration, 242 miners died nationally in mining accidents in 1978; in 2003, 55 miners died in mining accidents.
Fourteen miners were killed underground in 2004, the last year for which figures were available. (Watch how mining deaths have fallen -- 1:25)
The International Coal Group was formed in 2004, when business entrepreneur Wilbur Ross Jr. led a group that bought many of the assets of Horizon Natural Resources in a bankruptcy auction.
Last year, ICG bought Anker West Virginia Mining, which previously owned Sago. The company has mining operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland and owned or controlled approximately 707 million tons of coal as of January 1, 2005.
The Sago Mine has a long list of safety violations -- and an injury rate in 2004 three times that of other, similar-sized underground mines, according to data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The Sago Mine was cited about 200 times over alleged safety violations in 2005, up from 68 citations the year before, according to the administration. (Watch questions over mine safety -- 1:29)
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yeyeyeye (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
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My God, this is truly terrible:
Only 1 W. Virginia coal miner now said found alive
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (Reuters) - Only one of 13 miners who were in a West Virginia coal mine when it was hit by an explosion was found alive, a company official told family members on Wednesday, after reports hours earlier that 12 had survived led to rejoicing.
Virginia Dean, whose uncle was in the mine, said, Only one lived. They lied.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_on_.../mine_explosion
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
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My God, this is truly terrible:
Only 1 W. Virginia coal miner now said found alive
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (Reuters) - Only one of 13 miners who were in a West Virginia coal mine when it was hit by an explosion was found alive, a company official told family members on Wednesday, after reports hours earlier that 12 had survived led to rejoicing.
Virginia Dean, whose uncle was in the mine, said, Only one lived. They lied.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_on_.../mine_explosion
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
that's really unfortunate for the families.. to hear that despite all unlikeliness, that they were alive.. then to have that shattered with only one alive. At least there is a survivor (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
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Exactly. It's devestating enough to lose someone like this, but to be put through this kind of thing is unimaginable.
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I've been keeping up with this story since last night, but this is just a horrible turn of events. I can only imagine what the families must be thinking right now after having their hopes raised so high only to have them crushed hours later - this is a case of miscommunication at its worst.
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Families Say 11 of 12 W.Va. Miners Dead
Families Say 11 of 12 Miners Reported to Have Survived Have Died
Miners who are part of the rescue team prepare to enter the mine Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2005 in Tallmansville, W. Va. Rescue teams pushed deep into a mine Tuesday where 13 workers were trapped by an explosion more than 24 hours earlier, and air tests showed dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, Pool)
By ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press Writer
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. Jan 4, 2006 — Family members learned early Wednesday that 11 of the 12 coal miners who were initially thought to have survived an explosion in a coal mine have died.
Families learned of the deaths from mine officials more than three hours after Gov. Joe Manchin said he had been told 12 of the miners survived the disaster. The sole survivor of the disaster was hospitalized, a doctor said.
International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield told the families that only one miner, Randal McCloy, had survived the explosion.
Families Say 11 of 12 W.Va. Miners Dead
Despite Risks, Miners Find Strength, Solidarity Underground
Coal Mine Discovery
Hatfield told the families gathered at the Sago Baptist Church 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.
At that point, chaos broke out in the church and a fight started.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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omg... thats terrible...
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The families are absolutely furious about this. Nobody can seem to explain who told them that the miners had survived. The CEO of the mining company called it a miscommunication, but acknowledged that they knew the families had been misinformed for at least THREE HOURS before they tried to correct the story. The governor just gave a press conference and he couldn't explain anything, either. It's just insane.
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The families are absolutely furious about this. Nobody can seem to explain who told them that the miners had survived. The CEO of the mining company called it a miscommunication, but acknowledged that they knew the families had been misinformed for at least THREE HOURS before they tried to correct the story. The governor just gave a press conference and he couldn't explain anything, either. It's just insane.
watching CNN right now, they're talking about how all the newspapers that will be released later today, all have headlines they are alive
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watching CNN right now, they're talking about how all the newspapers that will be released later today, all have headlines they are alive
it's truly sad, what a tragedy, and what a screw up on the communication side of things. I really feel bad for these families to have their hopes and spirits lifted, only to be crushed.
