At Least 25 Dead In West Virginia Mine Disaster

At Least 25 Dead In West Virginia Mine Disaster

www.reuters.com

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin said families of those missing are hoping for a miracle rescue following Monday's explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, owned by Massey Energy. A federal mining official said his agency will "leave no stone unturned" to determine what caused the disaster.

Don Blankenship, chief executive officer of Massey Energy, told ABC's "World News" that the mine disaster was caused by "an explosion of some sort, but we're not clear what happened yet, we don't really know what to say about it."

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This is the worst mining disaster that has occurred in the United States since twenty seven miners died in a mine fire at the Wilberg Mine in Utah back in December of 1984. This disaster comes after new Federal guidelines were put in place after the Sago Disaster, also in West Virginia, claimed the lives of twelve miners. These safety measures include the use of "rescue chambers" and self contained air packs that could help save miners in case of a fire.

The mine itself, Upper Big Branch Mine, is located about seven or eight miles from Whitesville, West Virginia. I am not too far away from Whitesville myself from where I live here in Marmet. At the most, it is a fourty five minute drive for me from here to Whitesville. Mileage wise, I am about thirty miles from the mine that exploded.

As most of you may know, I was born here and still live in West Virginia. Coal mining here is what gives this state its livelyhood. We, as a state, are very familiar with the risks of coal mining. We know all to well what can happen at a coal mine if disaster does strike.

I leave you folks with this...
Please pray for our state and our coal miners.





www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The four miners that were being searched for were found around 1AM Saturday morning about a mile from the entrance of the mine. Unfortunately, none of the miners were found alive in the very spots that rescue crews expected to find them at. As it turns out, none of the miners had deployed their rescue chambers as was originally thought.