Cruel twist in mine disaster

Anna Casto (L) and Deborah Nuzum (R) of Upshur County, express their anger over the mistaken report. Picture / Reuters

Joy turned to agony last night for the families of 12 of 13 American miners killed in a West Virginia coal mine explosion.

Families were originally told that the 12 men had been found alive, prompting rejoicing in the Sago Baptist Church in Tallmansville, where relatives were waiting for news.

But three hours later it emerged that a terrible mistake had occurred - the 12 men had been found dead and one was critically injured.

The mine owners, International Coal Group, last night defended the error as a miscommunication between the rescue team and rescue headquarters.

But families were furious as it emerged that the company knew the men were dead about 20 minutes after the original announcement, yet did not pass on the news or deny reports that the men were alive.

Virginia Dean, whose uncle was in the mine, said, "Only one lived. They lied."

Live coverage from the scene on the news network CNN showed relatives in shock leaving the church where the meeting was held.

A woman coming from the meeting described tumultuous scenes inside the church after the relatives were told there was only one survivor, identified as Randal McCloy. The woman said the survivor was unconscious and taken to hospital for treatment.

"The families are very angry," she told CNN.

At a press conference held after the incident, Ben Hatfield, chief executive of International Coal Group, apologised for the mix-up.

Mr Hatfield said the "situation got quickly out of control" in how the news about survivors spread. "There was a great deal of confusion" between the rescue teams and the people above ground in spreading the news about survivors, he said.

One miner had already been found dead late on Tuesday about 210m from a mine car, where the employee appeared to be working on a beltline, which brings coal out of the mine, said Mr Hatfield. The miner was not immediately identified.

Mr Hatfield said only one miner, Randal McCloy, had survived the explosion.

John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners, said chaos broke out when relatives learned of the deaths.

Mr Hatfield said the erroneous information spread rapidly when people overheard cellphone calls between rescuers and the rescue command centre. 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 centre indicated multiple survivors," Mr Hatfield said. "That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command centre. It quickly got out of control."

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

Mine officials earlier found extremely dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in the part of the mine where the men were believed to have been. An odourless and colourless gas, carbon monoxide can be lethal at high concentrations. At lower levels, it can cause headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, fatigue and brain damage.

Earlier, the sister-in-law of Jack Weaver, who was in the mine, said family members learned of the rescue when a man burst into the church where relatives were waiting, shouting "it's a miracle, it's a miracle".

Scores of residents in the church erupted in shouts of joy at the news. Some began singing hymns, others hugged and kissed each other, and a few jumped up and down with tears in their eyes. Even hard-bitten miners buried their faces in their hands and wept. "Oh, my God, oh, my God," gasped Anna McCloy, a 25-year-old mother of two whose husband, Randal, 26, was later named as the sole survivor. The disaster came four years after nine Pennsylvania coal miners were rescued following a 77-hour ordeal in a flooded mine shaft 73m under ground.

The explosion happened when the mine was reopening after being closed for the holidays, said Lara Ramsburg, a spokeswoman for West Virginia's governor.

Since October, the US Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued 50 citations to Sago mine, some as recently as December 21, including citations for accumulation of combustible materials such as coal dust and loose coal.

- REUTERS