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WV Miner situation


Lefty

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Several reliable news media outlets 'confirmed' that only one of the 12 trapped miners didn't survive.

 

Shortly after the statement, it was leaked that in fact, only one of the 12 trapped miners DID survive.

 

What a travesty, and even more so because the relatives were told their family member was safe, only to find out later that wasn't the case.

 

It is so 3:50 am and I just got back from the Orange Bowl, so Im not gonna get a link/source. Someone else doing that would be great, thanks. I heard it on Sedano's show on 790 on my way home.

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At about 8 p.m. Tuesday, coal company officials announced that one miner's body had been found near the area where the explosion occurred. However, there was hope for the remaining 12 miners because their track-mounted car was found undamaged deeper in the mine.

 

Then, a seeming miracle: Shortly before midnight, word rushed up the hollow that 12 miners had been found alive.

 

Family and friends clapped in the early morning chill as a single ambulance drove away, presumably with one of the miners safely in the back.

 

"It just shows you enough prayers went out," Bula Smith, 27, said as she clutched her 7-month-old daughter, Cassey, close to her. "It's a miracle."

 

The crowd gathered outside the church burst into a chorus of "How Great Thou Art" as family and friends threw themselves into each other's arms.

 

Their euphoria was short-lived.

 

When the townspeople learned that all but one of the miners were dead, they reacted with anger at International Coal and the news media for the miscommunication.

 

Then, most left quietly. After 41 hours of sharing hopes and prayers and rejoicing, they chose solitude for their grief.

 

- Excerpt from CNN.com. (Click here for the full story)

 

This was a terrible tragedy even before the dumbass who made the wrong announcement compounded it by giving the families false hope. I'm very sad for those poor people, and I feel their anger as well. Lawsuits will surely follow.

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Guest Juanky

Jan. 4, 2006 ? Family members and friends of 12 men who died in a mine collapse in West Virginia are furious with officials for what is being called a "miscommunication."

 

Late last night, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin announced that 11 or 12 of the miners who had been trapped by a blast early Monday morning had survived, triggering widespread jubilation in the close-knit mining community of Tallmansville.

 

The local Baptist church where families and friends were gathered became filled with song, laughter and elation.

 

Three hours later, another announcement came from Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer for the mine's owner International Coal Group Inc.: Only one man had survived.

 

The sole survivor, Randal McCloy, 27, was the youngest of the miners. He was rushed to the hospital, where he is now reportedly in critical condition. He cannot talk, but has been making noises and moaning, said his father-in-law, Charles Green.

 

"They checked him. He don't have no carbon monoxide in his bloodstream," said Green, whose daughter, Anna, has been with McCloy since they were teenagers. They have two children, a 1-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son.

 

A 'Miscommunication'

 

Somehow, there was an awful miscommunication: Rescuers had not confirmed that 12 were alive, but that 12 were found and that they were being checked for vital signs.

 

"They didn't have any certainties, and the time has elapsed because they were trying to get more information before giving information that was wrong or erroneous," said Manchin, about why the families were not given accurate information right after the mistake was made.

 

Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a "miscommunication."

 

The rescue effort proved to be quite complex and layered. Word had to travel between several rescue teams and several levels of company administration before finally making it to the worried families.

 

In the end, the miners who perished ? most of them middle-age ? likely were simply exposed to carbon monoxide for too long.

 

As they were trained to do, the miners had constructed a barrier to block deadly carbon monoxide gas. The bodies were recovered near the air hole drilled early on Tuesday in an attempt to reach them.

 

Each miner carried a breathing apparatus that was designed to supply oxygen in the even of a disaster.

 

"Despite the overwhelming grief the community feels," Manchin said, "let's remember we do have one miracle and we're thankful for that."

 

Furious Family Members

 

Family members are demanding answers.

 

"I call this injustice," said Ann Meredith, a relative of a miner. "I will tell you right here now, I am going to sue."

 

The sadness turned to rage with some of the community members turning on officials. There were reports of fistfights. A SWAT team and about 12 state police officers waited nearby. A Red Cross volunteer, Tamila Swiger, said some people were experiencing nervous breakdowns and panic attacks.

 

"Tell us our families are coming out alive and then one of them comes out and the rest of them dead," said Daniele Bennett, whose father was killed in the mine. "That's not even right."

 

"I mean the whole church rejoiced ? that was when they had 11 survivors," said Green, the lone survivor's father-in-law. "When they came back in and they announced my son-in-law, I was still devastated. My heart ? my whole family's heart ? goes out to them."

 

Manchin, who lost friends and his uncle in a 1968 West Virginia mining accident, said that the miscommunication between rescuers and state and company officials was terrible, but not anyone's fault.

 

"They knew the odds that were against us ? and with that to have the ending as it did, with this high euphoria," he said. "To put blame on anyone would be wrong, it truly would be."

Source: ABC News

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Thanks for the source, guys. And ya, I really couldn't believe this when I saw it. Interspersed between FSU/PSU talk and cheerleader gossip, Sedano 'broke' this on the radio. I thought it was a joke at first, but it's got to be one of the most horrific blunders in the history of media coverage. I mean, how can you do that?????

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