Miner in critical condition; families anguished after early report 12 survived
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - In a stunning and heartbreaking announcement, 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 relatives gathered at a nearby church had heard that 12 of the miners survived the disaster. Rescue crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.
“It’s sorrow beyond belief,” Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer of mine owner International Coal Group, said during a news conference.
Gov. Joe Manchin said that, “about the confusion, I can’t tell you of anything more heart-wrenching than I’ve ever gone through in my life. Nothing.”
“I can feel the outrage,” he later told NBC’s “Today” show, referring to the anger from the victims’ families.
Manchin said the state would investigate the cause of the explosion, the miscommunication and the mine’s numerous safety and health violations last year. “We’re going to look into this,” Manchin vowed.
John Bennett, whose father Jim Bennett was one of the victims and had been due to retire in April, complained that his father would “tell me how unsafe the mine is.”
Problems at the mine had been “going on for months ... and they still send men in,” Bennett told “Today,” adding that he felt that if the mine owner had allowed workers to unionize the violations wouldn’t have happened.
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The sole survivor of the disaster, identified by mining officials as Randal McCloy, was hospitalized in critical condition early Wednesday, a doctor said. When he arrived, he was unconscious but moaning, the hospital said.
McCloy was transferred to the intensive care unit of West Virginia University’s Ruby Memory Hospital at Morgantown, where he remained in critical condition. Doctors said he was under sedation and on a ventilator to aid his breathing and there was no immediate sign of brain damage.
“He responds to stimuli and that’s good,” Dr. Lawrence Roberts said at a briefing. There was no sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
“I think youth always helps,” he added, commenting on possible reasons why the 27-year-old McCloy survived while the others, all older men, perished.
Thirteen miners had been trapped 260 feet below the surface of the Sago Mine since an explosion early Monday. The mine is located about 100 miles northeast of Charleston. As rescue workers tried to get to the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during an emotional two-day vigil.
But just after midnight, families began streaming out of the church, yelling “They’re alive!” The church’s bells began ringing and families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent rescue a miracle.
As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing there were no others.
The celebration lasted for about three hours and several newspapers even splashed headlines such as “Miracle in the Mine” on their front pages, which went to press before the truth emerged. “Alive! Miners beat odds” was USA Today’s headline with a picture of two smiling family members.
The major news websites, including MSNBC.com, also heralded an apparent miracle but they were able to quickly change their covers when news emerged that only one miner survived.
'Miscommunication'
ICG's CEO Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a “miscommunication.” The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs.
But what leaked out to anxious family members was that 12 were found alive.
“That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center,” Hatfield said.
At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman saying the men were alive.
Officials knew of the miscommunication after about 20 minutes, Hatfield added, but didn’t talk to the families for nearly three hours because they wanted to confirm the status of the victims and prevent another round of confusion.
“Let’s put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn’t know if there were 12 or 1 (who were alive),” Hatfield said.
When Hatfield appeared before the families, he said “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” according to John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.
“There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door,” said Nick Helms, son of another victim, Terry Helms.
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - In a stunning and heartbreaking announcement, 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 relatives gathered at a nearby church had heard that 12 of the miners survived the disaster. Rescue crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.
“It’s sorrow beyond belief,” Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer of mine owner International Coal Group, said during a news conference.
Gov. Joe Manchin said that, “about the confusion, I can’t tell you of anything more heart-wrenching than I’ve ever gone through in my life. Nothing.”
“I can feel the outrage,” he later told NBC’s “Today” show, referring to the anger from the victims’ families.
Manchin said the state would investigate the cause of the explosion, the miscommunication and the mine’s numerous safety and health violations last year. “We’re going to look into this,” Manchin vowed.
John Bennett, whose father Jim Bennett was one of the victims and had been due to retire in April, complained that his father would “tell me how unsafe the mine is.”
Problems at the mine had been “going on for months ... and they still send men in,” Bennett told “Today,” adding that he felt that if the mine owner had allowed workers to unionize the violations wouldn’t have happened.
CLICK FOR RELATED CONTENT
Fact file: Coal mining’s high stakes
Bush administration vows investigation
Profiles of the miners
Survivor responds to stimuli
The sole survivor of the disaster, identified by mining officials as Randal McCloy, was hospitalized in critical condition early Wednesday, a doctor said. When he arrived, he was unconscious but moaning, the hospital said.
McCloy was transferred to the intensive care unit of West Virginia University’s Ruby Memory Hospital at Morgantown, where he remained in critical condition. Doctors said he was under sedation and on a ventilator to aid his breathing and there was no immediate sign of brain damage.
“He responds to stimuli and that’s good,” Dr. Lawrence Roberts said at a briefing. There was no sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
“I think youth always helps,” he added, commenting on possible reasons why the 27-year-old McCloy survived while the others, all older men, perished.
Thirteen miners had been trapped 260 feet below the surface of the Sago Mine since an explosion early Monday. The mine is located about 100 miles northeast of Charleston. As rescue workers tried to get to the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during an emotional two-day vigil.
But just after midnight, families began streaming out of the church, yelling “They’re alive!” The church’s bells began ringing and families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent rescue a miracle.
As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing there were no others.
The celebration lasted for about three hours and several newspapers even splashed headlines such as “Miracle in the Mine” on their front pages, which went to press before the truth emerged. “Alive! Miners beat odds” was USA Today’s headline with a picture of two smiling family members.
The major news websites, including MSNBC.com, also heralded an apparent miracle but they were able to quickly change their covers when news emerged that only one miner survived.
'Miscommunication'
ICG's CEO Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a “miscommunication.” The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs.
But what leaked out to anxious family members was that 12 were found alive.
“That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center,” Hatfield said.
At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman saying the men were alive.
Officials knew of the miscommunication after about 20 minutes, Hatfield added, but didn’t talk to the families for nearly three hours because they wanted to confirm the status of the victims and prevent another round of confusion.
“Let’s put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn’t know if there were 12 or 1 (who were alive),” Hatfield said.
When Hatfield appeared before the families, he said “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” according to John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.
“There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door,” said Nick Helms, son of another victim, Terry Helms.
