Terrible blast in WVA mine...

(CNN) -- An explosion occurred Monday in a West Virginia mine, leaving more than 20 people unaccounted for, said Jimmy Gianato, director of homeland security for the state.

West Virginia's state mine director reported that six coal miners were dead and 21 were missing after the explosion in Raleigh County, according to CNN affiliate WCHS.

The explosion happened at about 4:30 p.m. at Massey Energy's Performance Coal Co. mine in Whitesville, 30 miles south of Charleston, it said.

WCHS: Six deaths reported

The company identified the facility as Upper Big Branch Mine.

Rescue teams and state and federal agencies were responding.

Massey Energy Co., based in Richmond, Virginia, has operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. It is the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia, it said in a statement.

Blast reported at West Virginia mine; More than 20 unaccounted for - CNN.com

I hate hearing this stuff :( I have so many family members and friends that work in the mines it just makes me sick

The death toll is now at 25. May God hold up the families of those lost. I have so much respect for the men who do that dangerous and hard job to put food on the table.

A few years ago, there were several people from this area who got jobs at that very mine because of better pay and benefits. Let's all hope none of those people were there and let's all pray for the families and community that this tragedy has affected.

Search for miners after deadly blast could take days - CNN.com

Good updated article on it, 25 dead and 4 missing. My step-dad is a miner, his brother, my grandfather was, my uncle was, great-grandfather was...a big reason why everyone of them told me to never go into the mines, this hits close to home with a lot of us.

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Originally Posted by R13

Search for miners after deadly blast could take days - CNN.com

Good updated article on it, 25 dead and 4 missing. My step-dad is a miner, his brother, my grandfather was, my uncle was, great-grandfather was...a big reason why everyone of them told me to never go into the mines, this hits close to home with a lot of us.

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My grandmother's first husband was killed in the mines. She was left very young and with 3 little ones to raise. You'll find alot of folk around who who felt that kind of sorrow sadly.

Massey is the company that is buying out or has bought out cumberland resources in this area. I hope this was a freak accident and that they were using/do use proper safety procedure in their mining. (i know thats hard to come by)

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Originally Posted by Rocky

Massey is the company that is buying out or has bought out cumberland resources in this area. I hope this was a freak accident and that they were using/do use proper safety procedure in their mining. (i know thats hard to come by)

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I just heard them talking about them, said they had a good track record last year safety wise, but this particular mine should not have been operating...so really their one slip up caused the biggest mine disaster in 25 years.

my cousins wife has a nephew that works at this mine and had gotten off work about an hour before this happend.

according to the news this mine just in March alone had hundreds of violations.

Smoke from a fire now...and pumping nitrogen in 2 days after Massey was asked to get the stuff on site. This might be one they have to seal to put out. The mined-out area is huge, but sealed..as long as the seals withstood the explosion. Tough choices...haven't even IDed the ones they found.

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Originally Posted by R13

I just heard them talking about them, said they had a good track record last year safety wise, but this particular mine should not have been operating...so really their one slip up caused the biggest mine disaster in 25 years.

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Their track record is the exact opposite of good. They've had 60 withdrawal orders issued by mine inspectors (combination of total and partial evacuation) since the beginning of 2009 alone. A huge number of those were failure to ventilate failure to decrease combustible materials (coal dust).

They've met the criteria for "unwarranted violations" and failure to remedy violations at a much higher rate than many other deep mines. Other mines typically have frequent violations, but not that many that are as serious as theirs.

Their smaller mines may not have such a bad track record, but IMO this horrible record of blantant disregard for safety over the course of years in their major money maker overshadows any of that.

does anyone remember the mine explosion that happened in the guest river area in 1992 or 1993 not sure which one, and if so if there is a link to it could you please post it

December 1992, Southmountain Coal.
Killed 8. 1 fellow on his way out of the mine at the time of the explosion survived, with injuries.
There was a Methane build up, and the methane was ignited by a cigarette lighter.

Several mine employees were sentenced to time over the cause of the explosion. They had allowed miners to smoke underground, and they had falsified books.

The wait is over.
"The conditions were so rough after the blast that rescuers only late Friday realized that they had walked past the bodies of the four missing miners on the first day without seeing, a federal mine safety official said."
Four missing miners found dead - Life- msnbc.com

Almost everybody in my family either currently works at a mine, was disabled while working at a mine or at some point in their life worked there. My neighbors are miners, as are most people in the area. I remember growing up, everytime there was an explosion or a cave in, having to run around and find out what mine and go through the list of what family was working where. We were fortunate to have everybody come out each time. You panic until you know they're fine. I can't even imagine what happens when you find out they're not. My prayers are with those in West Virginia.

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Originally Posted by imported_elp6n

Their track record is the exact opposite of good. They've had 60 withdrawal orders issued by mine inspectors (combination of total and partial evacuation) since the beginning of 2009 alone. A huge number of those were failure to ventilate failure to decrease combustible materials (coal dust).

They've met the criteria for "unwarranted violations" and failure to remedy violations at a much higher rate than many other deep mines. Other mines typically have frequent violations, but not that many that are as serious as theirs.

Their smaller mines may not have such a bad track record, but IMO this horrible record of blantant disregard for safety over the course of years in their major money maker overshadows any of that.

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I was talking about last year, they had cleaned things up as of last year a lot. Guess not.

Anyone see where one of the miners had a bad feeling that morning and wrote his family a goodbye letter just in case, then that happened. Crazy.

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Originally Posted by R13

I was talking about last year, they had cleaned things up as of last year a lot. Guess not.

Anyone see where one of the miners had a bad feeling that morning and wrote his family a goodbye letter just in case, then that happened. Crazy.

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Got a link? If I had a bad feeling that I felt I needed to write a goodbye letter I would have took a sick day instead.

Not the original one, but pretty sure the same thing, has some other stories on the other miners.



CHARLESTON, W.Va. ? Coal miner Josh Napper had a sick feeling something wasn't right at his job, so he put his thoughts on paper, to those he loved the most before heading back to work.

It would be his last communication with them.

"If anything happens to me, I will be looking down from heaven," his handwritten note read.

The 25-year-old Napper left it with his family in southeast Ohio, where he commuted to on weekends. Napper was among 29 people killed in an explosion at a West Virginia mine.

UPDATE: Missing miners found dead; death toll reaches 29
SAFETY: Mine had many lapses before explosion
MAP: Mine deaths since 1970
WAYS TO HELP: List of how to help mining families

His mother, Pam Napper, didn't find out about the note until after he returned to work at the Upper Big Branch mine on Monday, the day of the explosion.

"I just knew that Josh in his heart knew that something was going to happen," Pam Napper said Friday.

He knew because his April 2 shift had ended about two hours early over ventilation concerns at the mine. He drove to Ohio to spend Easter with his family.

"I said, 'Why aren't you working?"' Pam Napper said. "He said, 'Mom, the ventilation's bad.' And they sent him out of the mines. Everybody."

She rushed to the mine site after the explosion. Also that day, his fiancee, Jennifer Ziegler, drove to West Virginia to show her the note written to his mom, 19-month-old daughter and fiancee.

"Dear Mommy and Jenna," Pam Napper recalled. "If anything happens to me, I will be looking down from heaven. If you take care of my baby girl, watch over (her), tell her all the good things about her daddy. She was so cute and funny. She was my little peanut. And Jennifer, I know things have never been the greatest sometimes, but I just want you to know I love you and I care about you."

Not all the dead have been identified. These are the stories of those who have been named so far, either by mine owner Massey Energy Co., the medical examiner or family member

Note for family among W.Va. mine victims' stories - USATODAY.com

I saw the video interview with his mother. She said he had gotten saved Easter morning at church I do believe as well. Definitely a terrible loss of life at that age and with a young daughter.

Pics from last week, if anyone cares to see them. From looking at the mine map, I'd guess the driving sections are about to be caught by the longwall. (You can find the maps at the MSHA site.) If you don't have a place for the Wall to go, it would mean a lay-off. Might have something to do with gambling more than usual.

Montcoal Mine Disaster

Apparently this coal company is the one who funded UVa-Wise's new Center for the Arts building.