Updated: 03:43 AM EST
11 Missing Miners Found Dead After Coal Mine Explosion
One Miner Hospitalized After Earlier Reports of 12 Survivors Proved False
By ALLEN G. BREED, AP

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (Jan. 4) - 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.

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.

Hatfield said the erroneous information spread rapidly when people overheard cell phone calls between rescuers and the rescue command center. In reality, rescuers had confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs, he said.

"The initial report from the rescue team to the command center indicated multiple survivors," Hatfield said during a news conference. "That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center. It quickly got out of control."

Hatfield said the company waited to correct the information until it knew more about the rescue.


01/04/06 03:23 EST

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press

Ain't that some sh*t.

They said they made a mistake.

Mistake: forgetting to get milk at the grocery market when that is the reason you went in there in the first place.

F up; Saying 12 of 13 people were found alive when they were not.
[Edited 1/4/06 1:06am]

EDIITED:

the mine owners knew 20 minutes AFTER the initial report that there wre discrepencies, but let the families celebrate for up to two hours before telling them that the initial information was wrong. that part was wrong--they could have gathered them up and told them there was at least the potential for bad news.
[Edited 1/4/06 1:43am]

I read an internet report on MSN that had the miners surviving. Less than 30 minutes later I went back to MSN and read about the mistake.

The statement from one of the wifes about having to go home and tell her 11 year old son that daddy is not coming back is hard to read.

jseven said:

exactly.

Major sucks!!!!!


M

CHIC0 said:

apparently, they never said they were all alive, just that they had been found. the people who were listening on the took that misinformation and ran with it. tragic either way

one lady said she lost her brother, husband and uncle in the mine--and they were all the same person

Natisse said:

Very sad. My heart goes out to all the families and friends of these men.

Sad!

The Sun-Times went to print before the truth came out. So you have all these people celebrating and smiling.


If it were my family member, someone's heads would be rolling.

Peace to the twelve souls.

This was terrible. My hearts go out to their families.

Been following this story... When I turned onthe TV last night before bed I was so happy to hear they'd found 11 of the twelve remaining alive - and then felt bad for the one who passed. Literaly moments later... the story was reversed and it was now being said that there was only one survivor and 11 fatalities. They focused on the families whose feelings dropped from euphoria to dispair. I watched the live press conference soon after... it seems that there was never an official announcement - but WRONG info had come over the transmission from the rescue site to the command center and then trickled down to the families in an unofficial capacity. Shortly after, when the correct info had been delivered about the situation... the mining company felt that they could not release any info until they had accurate information. In the meantime, the families believed their loved ones were alive... and it was hours later that they found out the truth.

It may have just been a mistake NOT to tell the families something immediately when they knew that the worst case scenario had probably happened instead of the best... maybe they could have simply said that the earlier information was incorect and to stand by for an accurate report. But the company will be fired upon no matter what - it seems that particular mine was sited for numerous safety violations up until last week. I can never undertsand why instances occur where human life is secondary to profit.

The whole situation is horrific and terribly, terribly sad.

come on out now....

meltwithu said:

oh c'mon now. that's messed up