US miners tried to save themselves, 12 dead
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 09:06

The other men were apparently deeper into the mine at the time and survived the blast. But the mine company would not say exactly how they died or how long they survived, citing family privacy.

"They felt the percussion and heard the noise," Hatfield said. "We believe they probably encountered heavy smoke and the ventilation system was obstructed. They then did what skilled miners do."

McCloy and the 11 others were found at the deepest point of the mine, about 2 1/2 miles from the entrance, behind a fibrous plastic cloth stretched across an area about 20 feet wide to keep out deadly carbon monoxide gas, Hatfield said. Such curtains, called battices, are used in mines to direct air flow, and miners are trained to use them in an emergency.

Each of the miners in the barricaded area also had a breathing apparatus that purifies the air and had been able to use it, according to mine officials.

The outlook for the men appeared bleak on Tuesday morning, when rescuers found deadly levels of carbon monoxide — a byproduct of combustion — in the mine, and got no response when they banged on a steel pipe.

Hatfield refused to say whether the miners wrote notes to their families.

ICG's Kitts said the rescuers realized McCloy was alive when they heard his moans. Kitts said McCloy 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.

McCloy was in intensive care at West Virginia University's Ruby Memory Hospital at Morgantown, undergoing dialysis because of damage to his kidneys from dehydration. Dr. Lawrence Roberts said McCloy squeezed his wife's hand on Wednesday and was communicating with other movements.

The miners had been trapped 260 feet down since Monday morning in the Sago Mine, about 100 miles northeast of Charleston. As rescue workers tried to reach the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during a grueling vigil.

The mine has one shaft with two shafts extending off to the left, forming a giant backward "F." One of the dead was found near the second left turn in the mine; the others were found at the far end of the shaft formed by the top of the backward "F."

Federal and state authorities said they would investigate the cause of the blast. But coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas or highly combustible coal dust in the air.

David Dye, who heads the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the investigation will include "how emergency information was relayed about the trapped miners' conditions."

The devastating information about the dead shocked and angered family members, who had rejoiced with Gov. Joe Manchin hours earlier when word spread that 12 miners were alive. Church bells pealed and politicians proclaimed the rescue a miracle before the real story came out.

Hatfield said about 45 minutes after the mine rescue command center received word that 12 miners were alive, the company realized it may have gotten it wrong. But families were not told of the mistake until three hours later, in part, Hatfield said, because officials wanted to make sure all of their information was right.

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. Police were called in for fear of violence.

The explosion was West Virginia's deadliest coal mining accident since 1968, when 78 men — including Manchin's uncle — 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.

It 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.