Miners pronounced saved, then dead

[pinto32]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Mine-Explosion.html?hp

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) -- 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 said he had been told 12 of the miners survived the disaster. Rescue crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.



....apperantly in the last 2 years, the mine was cited 250+ times for safety violations, but remained open. Black lung disease (in which coal dust becomes trapped in your lungs, ripping them apart and collapsing capillaries) is still common among coal miners, including several of those that died.....shows how far we've come in the past 150 years....

 

[Lacero]

Jesus, I just read the news they were found alive something like 2 hours ago, now you're telling me they are dead?

Wow. Those officials in charge really need to resign or keep tighter control on what's being reported.

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.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​

 

[Deepdale]

Jesus, I just read the news they were found alive something like 2 hours ago, now you're telling me they are dead

That is such a devastating reversal ... the emotional upheaval that those families must be experiencing is beyond comprehension.

 

[mdavey]

Those officials in charge really need to resign or keep tighter control on what's being reported.

It isn't clear whether the original message saying that the are all alive actually came from an official or a resident. Some reporters were suggesting that the message was being passed between residents initially as a rumor and became corrupted like a Chinese Whisper.

 

[.Andy]

It isn't clear whether the original message saying that the are all alive actually came from an official or a resident. Some reporters were suggesting that the message was being passed between residents initially as a rumor and became corrupted like a Chinese Whisper.

This sucks big time. I heard on the news over here in Aus that they were rescued and was totally amazed. Such a reversal would be absolutely devastating on the families.

 

[MacDawg]

It is always amazing to me when "news" is reported, then reversed. I suppose the rush to be the first with the news is always an issue in things like this.

Woof, Woof – Dawg

 

[0098386]

I heard about this last night. My dad told me that somewhere in the family... he thinks my great-grandmas uncle, was trapped in a cave in Wales with a whole load of other miners. they just left them there. nothing they could do, apparently. that was the 1920's though.

I'd be so scared underground. The Descent (IIRC, the british film) was the scariest film I've seen because it completely played with my fear of getting trapped in a tiny hole or passage in a cave.

 

[Abstract]

Ooooh, I smell lawsuit. This genuinely would be devastating to all family and friends involved, though. How can they be THAT wrong? I mean, the miners are either alive or dead. There's nothing in between.

 

[Lyle]

Ooooh, I smell lawsuit...

I feel pretty sure there was going to be a lawsuit even if the miners had been found alive. And my hunch is that the mining company itself never claimed that the miners were alive, but that it was instead a rumor (per mdavey's earlier post) that was picked up by the media and reported as fact. They seem to be doing that a lot these days (or maybe I'm just noticing it more and more).

You know, when I turned on the television late last night and they were reporting that the twelve had been found alive, I had one of those weird gut feelings that it wasn't true. I am truly sorry to find out this morning that I was right.

 

[JW8725]

This is shocking! I just heard this on the news. Those poor people, having had their hopes raised like that. Lawsuits or no Lawsuits, no ones a winner here, money cannot buy back loved ones.

 

[FoxyKaye]

Heartbreaking - not just because mining is a dangerous, comparatively low-paid, working class and difficult job. There's whole towns that revolve around a mine, the workers and their partners are a large extended family. This has got to be hitting really hard with the families, especially right after the holidays. What a sad and awful thing to have happen.

 

[adk]

It was pretty bad. I was watching at about 11:15 (central) and it said 12 of 13 miners had survived. Then at 2:30 I turned the TV back on and it said 12 of 13 miner had died, I couldn't believe it.

 

[AoWolf]

I am under the impression that the mine was bought by a new company that was attempting to fix the 250+ violations. I also believe I heard some one got a cell call saying they were alive and that started the rumor.

 

[joepunk]

Very tragic and it looks like mine officials knew 20 minutes into the towns 3hr celebration that the miners were dead.

 

[miloblithe]

I am under the impression that the mine was bought by a new company that was attempting to fix the 250+ violations.

It's my understanding that mines are often bought by new companies that happen to be made up of exactly the same people as who owned the mine previously...

 

[agreenster]

Lawsuits or no Lawsuits, no ones a winner here

Well, maybe ONE winner

 

[WildCowboy]

Yes, it was an overheard cell phone call in which rescuers stated that they had found 12 miners and were checking vital signs. People took that as a sign that they were alive and their health was being assessed. In reality, what was being assessed was whether they were alive or dead. Unfortunately, they didn't make it.

 

[sushi]

Those officials in charge really need to resign or keep tighter control on what's being reported.

Our wonderful press at work.

 

[pinto32]

Safety Violations Have Piled Up at Coal Mine

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010301433.html

16 violations logged in the past eight months were listed as "unwarrantable failures," a designation reserved for serious safety infractions for which the operator had either already been warned, or which showed "indifference or extreme lack of care," said Tony Oppegard, a former MSHA senior adviser.
"That is a very high number, and it is usually indicative of a very poor safety record," Oppegard said."
-----
MSHA's reports, 18 of the 46 most recent violations were listed as "significant and substantial." Among the problems cited: inadequate safeguards against the collapse of the mine roof and inadequate ventilation to guard against the buildup of deadly gases.
-----
Other inspection reports over the past two years fault the mine for "combustibles," including a buildup of flammable coal dust and a failure to adequately insulate electric wires. Sparks from electrical equipment can ignite coal dust and methane gas, triggering fires and explosions.
-----
Government documents also show a high rate of injuries and accidents at Sago. Although no miners were reported killed at the mine since at least 1995, 42 workers and contractors were injured in accidents since 2000, records show. The average number of working days lost because of accidents in the past five years was nearly double the national average for underground coal mines, MSHA documents show.


Unfortunatly, this is not an exception. Safety violations are still commonplace in mines. Many miners are trapped and killed every year that most people never hear about, usually because it only involves one or two people.

 

[Moof1904]

Most of my family is in WV. Thank God my parents fled the state as soon as they graduated college or else I'd probably be a coal miner's kid working in the mines like most of my cousins right now.

 

[PlaceofDis]

absolutely horrible. i feel for those families. it must be devistating.

 

[sushi]

Unfortunatly, this is not an exception. Safety violations are still commonplace in mines. Many miners are trapped and killed every year that most people never hear about, usually because it only involves one or two people.

Very sad situation indeed.

And to have the families go through the yoyo of emotions from their family members being dead to alive to dead again is terrible. I feel for these families.

On a side note, too bad the environmentalists won't allow for strip mining. With strip mining it is much safer and many issues that affect horizonal mining are not present.

 

[zimv20]

too bad the environmentalists won't allow for strip mining.

got a link for that claim?

 

[goodwill]

got a link for that claim?

I do.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/041300-01.htm

I think that link is pretty relevant.

 

[zimv20]

I do.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/041300-01.htm

I think that link is pretty relevant.

i'm confused, is strip mining illegal?