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| Situation Update No. 3 Ref.no.: AC-20100406-25593-USA
Situation Update No. 3
On 2010-04-10 at 11:50:40 [UTC]
Event: Technological Disaster
Location: USA State of West Virginia Uppper Big Branch Mine Naoma
Number of Deads: 29 person(s)
Situation: Four missing West Virginia coal miners were found dead early on Saturday, nearly five days after an explosion killed 25 others in the worst U.S. mining disaster in nearly four decades. The four bodies were found in an area of the Massey Energy mine briefly searched after the blast on Monday but were missed by rescuers amid heavy smoke, Kevin Stricklin of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration told reporters. Rescue teams found the miners on their fourth attempt after earlier efforts were thwarted by thick smoke, fire and an explosive build-up of methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Rescuers had hoped the miners made it to a refuge chamber stocked with food, water and oxygen at the Upper Big Branch mine, 30 miles south of the state capital Charleston. "We did not get the miracle we prayed for," an emotional West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin told a news briefing. With a death toll of 29, the West Virginia disaster is the deadliest U.S. mine accident in nearly 40 years. In 1972, 125 people died after a dam broke at Buffalo Mining Company in Saunders, West Virginia, and, in 1970, 38 miners died after an explosion at Finley Coal Company in Hyden, Kentucky. Only seven bodies were recovered on Monday and the first funerals were held on Friday. Stricklin said efforts were now underway to recover the remaining 22 bodies, many of which would have to be carried out by rescuers. Stricklin said all of the miners most likely died in the initial explosion and that "the only good thing that will come out of this" would be additional education and regulation to ensure such a disaster doesn't happen again. During the painstaking rescue effort boreholes were drilled 1,100 feet into the mine for ventilation and then nitrogen pumped into the mine to neutralize the threat of an explosion and extinguish the fire. Efforts to drill a borehole and lower a remote camera into the mine failed when the drill struck an underground pillar. "We remained hopeful the four missing miners would have been found alive," said Massey Chief Executive Don Blankenship. "I personally met with many of the families throughout the week and share their grief at this very painful time." |  | | | |
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