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Tragedy in West Virginia
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| vickyvale |
| quote: | Relative: Trapped miners left notes
'Tell all I'll see them on the other side'
Thursday, January 5, 2006; Posted: 10:17 p.m. EST (03:17 GMT)
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (AP) -- Some of the 12 coal miners who died in the Sago Mine disaster scrawled farewell notes assuring their loved ones that their final hours trapped underground were not spent in agony.
"Tell all I'll see them on the other side," read the note found with the body of 51-year-old mine foreman Martin Toler Jr. "It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep. I love you Jr."
Tom Toler, Martin's older brother who worked 30 years in the mine with him, said Thursday that the note was "written very lightly and very loosely" in block letters on the back of an insurance application form his brother had in his pocket.
"I took it to mean that it was written in the final stages," the brother said. "I'd call it more or less scribbling."
No note was found on the body of 59-year-old machine operator Fred Ware Jr., but daughter Peggy Cohen said she and other relatives who went to identify bodies at a temporary morgue were told by the medical examiner that some of the men wrote letters with a similar message: "Your dad didn't suffer."
"The notes said they weren't suffering, they were just going to sleep," said Cohen, who planned to retrieve her father's belongings to see if he had included such a note in his lunch box.
The miners died after an explosion that rocked the mine Monday morning. Eleven of the victims were discovered nearly 42 hours after the blast, at the deepest point of the mine, about 21/2 miles from the entrance, behind a curtain-like barrier stretched across an opening to keep out carbon monoxide, a deadly byproduct of combustion. The 12th victim was believed to have been killed by the blast itself. (Inside Sago Mine)
John Groves, whose brother Jerry was one of the victims, told The Associated Press that he knew that at least four notes were left behind. He said his family did not receive a note.
Autopsies were under way Thursday, and officials would not comment on the cause of death.
Cohen said her father had the peaceful look of someone who died from carbon monoxide, and the only mark on his body was a bruise on his chest.
"It comforts me to know he didn't suffer and he wasn't bruised or crushed," she said. "I didn't need a note. I think I needed to visualize and see him."
The sole survivor, 26-year-old Randal McCloy, remained in critical condition in a coma, struggling with the effects of oxygen deprivation to his vital organs. Doctors said he may have suffered brain damage. On Thursday afternoon, he was moved from a hospital in Morgantown to one in Pittsburgh for hyperbaric oxygen treatment. (Read full story)
The treatment helps get oxygen to the body's tissues, including the brain, and can help increase blood cells to fight infections or promote healing of injuries.
Blast probe under way
In other developments, federal and state investigators were at the mine Thursday seeking a cause for Monday's explosion. Coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas or highly combustible coal dust in the air, but what exactly triggered that explosion remained unclear.
The Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette reported Thursday that a federal contractor that monitors thunderstorms detected three lightning strikes within five miles of the Sago mine within a half hour of Monday's explosions. The contractor, Vaisala Inc., said two of the strikes, including one that was four to 10 times stronger than average, hit within 11/2 miles of the mine.
David Dye, who heads the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said that in addition to the cause, investigation will also probe "how emergency information was relayed about the trapped miners' conditions."
Just before midnight Tuesday, families received word that 12 miners were alive. Bells at the church pealed and politicians proclaimed the rescue a miracle before the truth emerged three hours later. At that point, the families' joy turned instantly to fury, with one man lunging at coal company officials.
Ben Hatfield, chief executive of mine owner International Coal Group Inc., said that the Ashland, Kentucky-based company did the best it could under extreme stress and exhaustion, and that officials "sincerely regret" the families were left to believe for so long that their loved ones were alive.
"In the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have," a choked-up Hatfield said.
He said the initial mistake resulted from a miscommunication among the rescue crews. Another ICG executive, vice president Gene Kitts, suggested the misunderstanding resulted because the rescuers who reached the victims were wearing full-face oxygen masks and used radios to report their findings to their base.
One of the dead was discovered several hundred feet from where the others had barricaded themselves in the maze-like mine. Hatfield said that miner, found near a belt used to move coal to the surface, was apparently killed by the force of the blast.
As for the other group of a dozen miners, ICG's Kitts said the rescuers realized McCloy was alive when they heard him moan, and he may have been the farthest away from the bad air. Doctors said McCloy's youth may also have helped him survive; most of the other miners were in their 50s.
Fund established
A fund to provide financial support to the miners' families has been established by ICG with an initial contribution of $2 million, company Chairman Wilbur L. Ross said Wednesday.
"No amount of money can take the place of a loved one," he said in a statement, "but the families do have financial needs as well."
The explosion was West Virginia's deadliest coal mining accident since 1968, when 78 men died in an explosion at a mine in Marion County, an hour's drive from here. That disaster prompted Congress to pass the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.
Sago was the nation's worst coal mining disaster since a pair of explosions tore through a mine in Brookwood, Ala., on Sept. 23, 2001, killing 13.
At a vigil attended by about 200 people in Sago on Wednesday night, the Rev. Wease Day said the days ahead will bring funerals and mourning for the victims, but insisted they must also include a celebration of the lives that were lost. He spoke specifically of Ware, a fellow parishioner who lived across the road from the church and was so good-natured he didn't mind being awakened to be asked to help with sanctuary repairs.
"We need to be sad. We need to pray for the families," Day said, "but we also need to be joyous." |
Source
Very sad story....imagine what those families must have felt thinking their loved ones had survived only to find out there was a 'mis-communication' and really, only ONE person had.
Tragic. :( |
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| dance2dabeat |
now I feel like an ass posting about my pathetic probelms!!!
:(
sad story |
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| Orko |
I find this sad:
| quote: | China closing more than 5,000 coal mines
Last Updated Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:54:25 EST
CBC News
China, where about 5,000 miners are killed annually, will close thousands of coal mines in a safety crackdown, the government said on Thursday.
As many as 5,290 coal mines will be shut down, said the state Xinhua News Agency, which quoted numbers released by the State Administration of Work Safety.
The closures follow a series of mine inspections in 2005, said Xinhua.
Another 12,000 of the country's estimated 34,000 coal mines are set for inspection as part of the crackdown.
The number of people dying in mines has remained unchanged for several years.
Government officials say most disasters are blamed on lax managers, and take place in unlicensed village mines. Reports suggest these types of mines often reopen shortly after being shut down.
The most recent crackdown follows six high-profile mine disasters that killed 528 people. They include an explosion in February at the Sunjiawan mine which killed 214 miners. It is considered the country's deadliest mine accident in more than 50 years. |
5000/year. Incredible how managers do not even care about the miner's safety. What a different world... |
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| vickyvale |
| quote: | Originally posted by Orko
5000/year. Incredible how managers do not even care about the miner's safety. What a different world... |
Wow. :( |
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| Nightscape |
| See you on the other side, When I close my eyes, and I reach the light:( |
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