12 dead in WV mine; 1 survivor
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:03 pm
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12 dead in WV mine; 1 survivor
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:27 pm
Wow... 1-2 miles underground. How horrible!!!
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:30 pm
Yeah... I keep thinking back to the 2002 incident in PA. The differences are I don't think they were that deep back then and it was the middle of summer. This time it's the middle of winter.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:46 pm
The 9 miners in 2002 were trapped 240 feet down... 1 mile is 5,280 feet.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:11 pm
Brent wrote:The 9 miners in 2002 were trapped 240 feet down... 1 mile is 5,280 feet.
yeah, you can't just drill a hole a mile deep to rescue them, like they did with those guys in 2002.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:16 pm
I hope they are able to rescue the miners. I also wish that CNN wouldn't act like it was the ONLY thing in the news worth talking about in their coverage.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 5:36 pm
That does not look too good!!! 
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:24 pm
Terrell wrote:I hope they are able to rescue the miners. I also wish that CNN wouldn't act like it was the ONLY thing in the news worth talking about in their coverage.
It was the same way in 2002... I mean it's a pretty big story(although local), but when there's absolutely nothing new, why does it need end of the world coverage?
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:26 pm
The media is crap Brent, and the tabloid press is all that exists anymore because it merged with the respectable press. That's why the focus is always on hearthrobbing stories, some white girl murdered, some celebrity in trouble, et cetera. While this is news, its really not in the national/international sense, but they need something to fill up on and catch the hearts of Americans. News often equates to drama.
I don't want to be entertained by tragedy or triumph, so I ignore these types of events. And don't really think it the least bit cold hearted of me to not care.
To justify myself, these types of mine explosions happen with great regularity in China, involving the deaths of dozens of minors. I'd say once a month if not more. Doubt the Chinese even try to rescue the miners. And also, I do hope that these people make it out alright, I just don't think its national news.
I don't want to be entertained by tragedy or triumph, so I ignore these types of events. And don't really think it the least bit cold hearted of me to not care.
To justify myself, these types of mine explosions happen with great regularity in China, involving the deaths of dozens of minors. I'd say once a month if not more. Doubt the Chinese even try to rescue the miners. And also, I do hope that these people make it out alright, I just don't think its national news.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:48 pm
I hope that they are able to get to them!
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:54 pm
kevin wrote:The media is crap Brent, and the tabloid press is all that exists anymore because it merged with the respectable press. That's why the focus is always on hearthrobbing stories, some white girl murdered, some celebrity in trouble, et cetera. While this is news, its really not in the national/international sense, but they need something to fill up on and catch the hearts of Americans. News often equates to drama.
I don't want to be entertained by tragedy or triumph, so I ignore these types of events. And don't really think it the least bit cold hearted of me to not care.
To justify myself, these types of mine explosions happen with great regularity in China, involving the deaths of dozens of minors. I'd say once a month if not more. Doubt the Chinese even try to rescue the miners. And also, I do hope that these people make it out alright, I just don't think its national news.
If an explosion occured in a factory in the US and trapped (and possibly killed) 13 people, then it would be national news. Why is this any different?
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:39 pm
On the bright side, it appears the mienrs rae trapped only 260 feet underground, not 1-2 miles as originally reported.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:42 pm
gtalum wrote:On the bright side, it appears the mienrs rae trapped only 260 feet underground, not 1-2 miles as originally reported.
So just 20 feet further than the 2002 PA mine.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:01 am
News conference live on the cable news networks right now(yes at 2am in the morning!). Not much new...
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:06 am
Its national news no doubt, but its a bit sensationalist when the media goes on 24/7 about something, I admit I'm a cynic.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 7:08 am
Its national news no doubt, but its a bit sensationalist when the media goes on 24/7 about something
I'll agree to that....
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 11:55 am
Not looking good... Still no signs of life.
Toxic gas discourages mine officials
Hope remains that 13 miners could be alive, official says
Tuesday, January 3, 2006; Posted: 11:13 a.m. EST (16:13 GMT)
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (CNN) -- High levels of toxic carbon monoxide in a coal mine where 13 miners are trapped Tuesday have officials discouraged in their quest to rescue the men.
But hope remains.
"They could be in another location or they could be barricaded somewhere," said Ben Hatfield, president of International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
"This carbon monoxide level far exceeds regulatory limits for respirable air." Hatfield said. "Therefore we are very discouraged by the results of this test."
The miners were trapped early Monday after an explosion and are believed to be about 260 feet below the surface at the end of an angled shaft about 2 miles long.
Hatfield also said rescuers on the surface pounded on a drill that was placed in an area where the miners were thought to be at the time of the blast. There was no response.
There has been no contact with the miners since Monday's blast.
Views from a camera dropped through the drill hole were inconclusive, Hatfield said.
"No barricades or survivors were seen, but there was also no evidence of substantial explosion damage to the installed equipment that was in view," Hatfield said.
"We remain determined to continue the search so long as there is hope, and hope remains," he said.
Rescuers were sending a track-mounted robot into the main mine shaft. The robot has reached 9,200 feet and can probe another 3,500 feet into the mine.
"At this point, our effort is focused on the robotic search," Hatfield said. The cause of Monday's explosion was still unknown, he said.
Near the mine, the mood of hundreds of family members gathered Tuesday morning at the Sago Baptist Church changed considerably after officials briefed them.
They're despondent, but holding on to hope, said a friend of one of the miners. Terri Goff, a relative of one of the miners, described his reaction after the briefing.
"We got outside and cried a little bit and we realized that there's still hope," he said. "They could be stuck in another place and ... we can still find these guys, and we need to."
The absence of miners near the area of the concentrated carbon monoxide offered relatives hope that their loved ones escaped to another part of the mine.
The explosion went off in the Sago Mine about 6:30 a.m., and six miners from another team managed to escape the explosion unharmed, authorities said.
The mine is about 8 miles south of the town of Buckhannon in Upshur County near Tallmansville. (Map)
Gov. Joe Manchin said the drilling equipment being used is the same equipment 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.
The cause of Monday's explosion was not immediately known. Manchin said there were high levels of carbon monoxide shortly after the explosion, but those levels have since subsided to a level safe enough to send rescuers in.
The trapped miners are believed to be about 10,000 feet inside the shaft. Shortly after the blast, a mining supervisor and other workers made it about 9,000 feet before turning back due to poor air quality, officials said.
Officials are hoping the experience of the miners pays off. Some of the trapped miners have 30 to 35 years of experience, and all have been working for at least several years.
"It is an experienced crew," said Gene Kitts, the company's senior vice president. "We're just praying that they've had the opportunity to put their training to use."
Kitts said that when an accident happens, a miner is taught to go to "the safest area he can find, barricade himself and wait for someone to come."
"That's what we're hoping is the situation here," he said.
The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen.
Still no signs of life.
Toxic gas discourages mine officials
Hope remains that 13 miners could be alive, official says
Tuesday, January 3, 2006; Posted: 11:13 a.m. EST (16:13 GMT)
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (CNN) -- High levels of toxic carbon monoxide in a coal mine where 13 miners are trapped Tuesday have officials discouraged in their quest to rescue the men.
But hope remains.
"They could be in another location or they could be barricaded somewhere," said Ben Hatfield, president of International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
"This carbon monoxide level far exceeds regulatory limits for respirable air." Hatfield said. "Therefore we are very discouraged by the results of this test."
The miners were trapped early Monday after an explosion and are believed to be about 260 feet below the surface at the end of an angled shaft about 2 miles long.
Hatfield also said rescuers on the surface pounded on a drill that was placed in an area where the miners were thought to be at the time of the blast. There was no response.
There has been no contact with the miners since Monday's blast.
Views from a camera dropped through the drill hole were inconclusive, Hatfield said.
"No barricades or survivors were seen, but there was also no evidence of substantial explosion damage to the installed equipment that was in view," Hatfield said.
"We remain determined to continue the search so long as there is hope, and hope remains," he said.
Rescuers were sending a track-mounted robot into the main mine shaft. The robot has reached 9,200 feet and can probe another 3,500 feet into the mine.
"At this point, our effort is focused on the robotic search," Hatfield said. The cause of Monday's explosion was still unknown, he said.
Near the mine, the mood of hundreds of family members gathered Tuesday morning at the Sago Baptist Church changed considerably after officials briefed them.
They're despondent, but holding on to hope, said a friend of one of the miners. Terri Goff, a relative of one of the miners, described his reaction after the briefing.
"We got outside and cried a little bit and we realized that there's still hope," he said. "They could be stuck in another place and ... we can still find these guys, and we need to."
The absence of miners near the area of the concentrated carbon monoxide offered relatives hope that their loved ones escaped to another part of the mine.
The explosion went off in the Sago Mine about 6:30 a.m., and six miners from another team managed to escape the explosion unharmed, authorities said.
The mine is about 8 miles south of the town of Buckhannon in Upshur County near Tallmansville. (Map)
Gov. Joe Manchin said the drilling equipment being used is the same equipment 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.
The cause of Monday's explosion was not immediately known. Manchin said there were high levels of carbon monoxide shortly after the explosion, but those levels have since subsided to a level safe enough to send rescuers in.
The trapped miners are believed to be about 10,000 feet inside the shaft. Shortly after the blast, a mining supervisor and other workers made it about 9,000 feet before turning back due to poor air quality, officials said.
Officials are hoping the experience of the miners pays off. Some of the trapped miners have 30 to 35 years of experience, and all have been working for at least several years.
"It is an experienced crew," said Gene Kitts, the company's senior vice president. "We're just praying that they've had the opportunity to put their training to use."
Kitts said that when an accident happens, a miner is taught to go to "the safest area he can find, barricade himself and wait for someone to come."
"That's what we're hoping is the situation here," he said.
The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:08 pm
I heard that the owners of the mine were written up and fined over 200 TIMES for safety issues! Why the heck weren't they shut down??? 
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:10 pm
Terrell wrote:I hope they are able to rescue the miners. I also wish that CNN wouldn't act like it was the ONLY thing in the news worth talking about in their coverage.
kevin wrote:To justify myself, these types of mine explosions happen with great regularity in China, involving the deaths of dozens of minors. I'd say once a month if not more. Doubt the Chinese even try to rescue the miners. And also, I do hope that these people make it out alright, I just don't think its national news.
God forbid a tragedy like this would happen in your area and there was no media coverage. It is the end of the world right now to those people and their loved ones. They may also have extended family throughout the US and this is the only news they are getting on their loved ones. Be lucky that this is the US and not China and we're able to report this kind of news.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:51 pm
CM - amen. Yes God forbid something tragic happens to any of our loved ones or ourselves. And if you think mining for coal isn't your thing or doesn't pertain to you, it does. Here in the Cincinnati area, our once almost nuclear power plant operates with coal now. So it does pertain to you, everytime you flip a light switch or as you are reading this post on your electricity powered monitor and computer.
There, I'm done.
My heart breaks for these miners and their loved ones.
Shame on this company for having so many violations and just yesterday the company's president said they had no clue what cuased this blast. Making you assume they ran a top notch company.
Mary
There, I'm done.
My heart breaks for these miners and their loved ones.
Shame on this company for having so many violations and just yesterday the company's president said they had no clue what cuased this blast. Making you assume they ran a top notch company.
Mary