Explosion At W.VA Coal Mines Traps 13

January 2nd, 2006, 02:38 PM

A coal mine explosion that may have been sparked by lightning trapped 13 miners more than a mile underground Monday, state officials said.

"There was some type of explosion either heard or felt by the miners attempting to go in the mine for a shift change," said Lara Ramsburg, spokeswoman for Gov. Joe Manchin. "They then backtracked out of the mine."

Rescue workers have not been able to reach the miners already in the mine, said Steve Milligan, deputy director of Upshur County's Office of Emergency Management.

Four co-workers attempted to reach the missing miners, but they "came to a wall," Milligan said.

A trained mine rescue team was en route. The mine is about 100 miles northeast of Charleston in the north-central part of the state.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known and details were sketchy, but Ramsburg said officials believe it may have been caused by a lightning strike. A series of severe thunderstorms moved through West Virginia early Monday.

Officials originally placed the time of the explosion at 8 a.m., but Ramsburg said it happened between 6 and 6:30 a.m.

The mine is owned by Anker West Virginia Mining Co. Anker was recently purchased by International Coal Group, Inc. A person who answered the phone at the mine declined to comment.

The explosion is the state's worst mining accident since February 2003, when three contract workers were killed by a methane explosion while drilling an air shaft at a Consol Energy Mine near Cameron. The state ended 2005 with three mining fatalities, the lowest since 2000.

In September 2001, 13 coal miners were killed in a series of explosions at a mine in Broached, Ala. Ten miners had rushed in to rescue co-workers injured by an explosion, only to be killed themselves by a second blast. That was the nation's worst mining accident since Dec. 19, 1984, when fire killed 27 coal miners near Orangeville, Utah.

In July 2002, nine miners were rescued after being trapped for 77 hours in a mine near Somerset, Pa.

In November, International Coal Group, headed by New York billionaire Wilbur Ross, said in a filing that it hoped to raise up to $291.7 million in a planned initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ross, who specializes in buying and selling troubled companies, and partners bought most of Horizon Natural Resources Co. "? once the nation's fourth largest coal company "? for $786 million in 2004, after a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled that Horizon did not have to honor union contracts that guaranteed benefits for the miners. Ross added Anker Coal Group and CoalQuest Development LLC to form ICG.

January 2nd, 2006, 05:39 PM

Updates will be put up as soon as MSHA releases the info- MSHA explosion page

**1inStripes** · January 2nd, 2006, 05:50 PM

This stuff scares the heck out of me. My father-in-law is a miner, as I know many of you are that are on here with. You all have a job I just don't have the nerve to do. I just hope, and pray these men was able to be in a safe place away from the blast.

January 2nd, 2006, 06:05 PM

We usually have a pretty good time , miners working, I mean...but when you start talking about getting outside ,EVEN if you lived thru the explosion,...Well anywhere underground is a long way underground. Maybe we will get another miracle, like those guys trapped by the flooding a couple of years back.

**greencrest1272** · January 2nd, 2006, 07:00 PM

The men of the occupation deserve quite a bit of respect.

January 2nd, 2006, 08:25 PM

My hopes and prayers is that all these men will come out ok. Had quite a bit of family work in the mines. Grandpa, uncles, cousin etc.

I will say this. I think the way CNN has handled this and put thing out to the public, i am embrassed that a major news source would conduct themselves this way.

These men and their families deserve more respect. Just like the interview with the woman.
Telling the woman to take a breathe to get information from her so they could continue questioning her? That isn't needed.
These people are enduring enough pain just waiting for any news of their loved ones.
Sure the woman could of refused to be interviewed, but why play on her emotions and make it look like it's all about money.
It's a job. A dangerous one and they make it seem like it all about money, when it's all about just having a job.

I have to say i have lost some respect for the way CNN has conducted this one. More worried about what caused the explosion then the men in the mine.

**imported_elp6n** · January 3rd, 2006, 10:32 PM

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Rescue crews found one body late Tuesday in a West Virginia mine were 13 miners were trapped after an explosion, according to the miners' family members.

John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves is among the trapped miners, said Gov. Joe Manchin had announced that rescuers found one body in a mine car.

Red Cross volunteer Tamila Swiger, who was inside the Sago Baptist Church, said family members were "passing out and crying and just really in bad shape" after hearing about the body.

The body was not identified.

There was no immediate word about the fate of the other 12 miners, who had been trapped 260 feet below the surface of the Sago Mine, about 100 miles northeast of Charleston, after an explosion early Monday.

Company officials have refused to speculate on the cause of the blast, but the governor's office said it might have been caused by lightning.

Sandy Barron, whose nephew Randal McCloy is one of the trapped miners, said families were told there was no trace of the other men. And families were still hopeful that they made it to safety.

The body was found in a mine car that was undamaged. It was unclear where the car was located. Families hoped the undamaged car meant the other miners may have been able to escape unharmed.

January 3rd, 2006, 10:39 PM

Thanks for the update. I had been watching the news back and forth.
I hope some of them men made it to safety.
Man i feel for the families. So much misery and heartache.
Just keep praying for these men and their families.