The preils of gossip and being social.

[Guest guest]

I run a risk by commenting about what happened here, and I certainly

do not want to seem disrespectful to the people who are closest to

this tragedy.

But when I turned on the TV this morning and heard that the 12

miners thought to be alive were actually dead, I was angry.

At who?

At the relatives of the miners.

Last night before I went to bed they were skipping around

saying " They're alive! All of them! "

This morning they were saying: " They lied to us! I'll sue! "

Now maybe I don't have the whole story, but what I heard is that

they were using a multi-channel receiver to monitor rescue efforts,

overheard it stated that the miners were found and to send

ambulances, and that they'd get the first one up soon.

That was IT. So people raced out of the church saying " Praise

Jesus. " The governor, without checking to see what was fact and what

was myth, said the miners were found alive. The media picked this up

and ran with it.

And again I think to myself what would have happened if I'd been

there. I would have told everyone not to get their hopes up too high

because there has been no OFFICIAL word yet. And I'm sure I would

have been trounced.

Now I think that if these people did in fact get overexcited about

something they didn't hegar but only WISHED they heard, then the

people they ought to sue are themselves.

I am sorry for their losses, and it's a tragic situation. I know

that sometimes people want hopes, wishes, and dreams to become fact

in a blink of an eye, but that still doesn't change the fact that

the only people who deceived anyone in this matter -provided I have

MY facts straight- was themselves.

Tom

Administrator

http://news./s/ap/20060104/ap_on_re_us/mine_explosion;_ylt=A

tIyLE5diVo8lWzUrKRXGoys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

12 of 13 W. Va. Miners Confirmed Dead

By JENNIFER C. YATES, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 36 minutes ago

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal,

family members were told early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal

miners were dead — three hours after they began celebrating news

that they were alive.

The sole survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition but

showing no sign of brain damage or carbon monoxide poisoning after

being trapped for 1 1/2 days, a doctor said. At 27, McCloy was the

youngest in the group.

The devastating new information about the others shocked and angered

family members, who had rejoiced with Gov. Joe Manchin hours earlier

when a report began to spread that 12 miners were alive. Rescue

crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.

" I can only say there was no one who did anything intentionally

other than risk their lives to save their loved ones, " Manchin told

ABC's " Good Morning America. "

" No one can say anything about that would make anything any better, "

he said. " Just a horrible situation. "

McCloy was unconscious but moaning when he arrived at a hospital,

the hospital said.

McCloy was transferred to the intensive care unit of West Virginia

University's Ruby Memory Hospital at town, where he remained

in critical condition. Doctors said he was under sedation and on a

ventilator to aid his breathing and there was no immediate sign of

brain damage.

" He responds to stimuli and that's good, " Dr. Lawrence said

at a briefing. There was no sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, he

said. Most of the other miners were in their 50s, and doctors said

that McCloy's age may have helped him.

Green, McCloy's father-in-law, told ABC that when he found

out his son-in law was the only survivor, " I was still devastated.

My whole family's heart goes out to them other families. "

Thirteen miners had been trapped 260 feet below the surface of the

Sago Mine since an explosion early Monday. The mine is located about

100 miles northeast of ton. As rescue workers tried to get to

the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during an

emotional two-day vigil.

But late Tuesday night, families began streaming out of the church,

yelling " They're alive! " The church's bells began ringing and

families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent

rescue a miracle.

As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families

believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing

there were no others.

Though the governor announced that there were 12 survivors, he later

indicated he was uncertain about the news. As word buzzed through

the church of survivors, he tried to find out what was going on, he

said.

" All of a sudden we heard the families in a euphoric state, and all

the shouting and screaming and joyfulness, and I asked my

detachments, I said, 'Do you know what's happening?' Because we were

wired in and we didn't know, " Manchin said.

International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield blamed

the wrong information on a " miscommunication. " The news spread after

people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had

only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital

signs. At least two family members in the church said they received

cell phone calls from a mine foreman.

" That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the

command center, " he said.

Three hours later, Hatfield told the families that " there had been a

lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that

only one survived, " said Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was

one of the trapped miners.

" There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out

the door, " said Nick Helms, son of miner Terry Helms.

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. About a dozen

state troopers and a SWAT team were positioned along the road near

the church because police were concerned about violence. Witnesses

said one man had to be wrestled to the ground when he lunged for

mining officials.

Company officials waited to correct the information until they knew

more about the rescue, Hatfield said.

" Let's put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I

didn't know if there were 12 or one (who were alive), " Hatfield

said.

The explosion was the state's deadliest mining accident since

November 1968, when 78 men — including the uncle of Manchin — died

in an explosion at Consol's Farmington No. 9 mine in n County,

an hour's drive north of here. Nineteen bodies remain entombed in

the mountain. It was that disaster that prompted Congress to pass

the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.

It was also the worst nationwide since a pair of explosions tore

through the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 mine in Brookwood, Ala., on

Sept. 23, 2001, killing 13.

Federal Department of Labor officials promised an investigation.

Acting Assistant Secretary Dye, who heads the Mine Safety and

Health Administration, said it will include " how emergency

information was relayed about the trapped miners' conditions. "

The 12 miners were found together behind a barrier they had

constructed to block carbon monoxide gas. They were found near where

the company had drilled an air hole early Tuesday in an attempt to

contact the men.

The miners had stretched a piece of fabric across an area about 20

feet wide to block out the gas, Hatfield said. The fabric is

designed for miners to use as a barrier. Each miner had carried a

breathing apparatus and had been able to use it, according to mining

officials.

The hole also was used to check air quality in the mine, which

revealed high concentrations of carbon monoxide. The odorless,

colorless gas can be lethal at high doses. At lower levels, it can

cause headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, fatigue and

brain damage.

Manchin, who had earlier said that the state believed in miracles,

tried to focus on the news that one had survived.

" We're clinging to one miracle when we were hoping for 13, " he said.

___

Associated Press writers Vicki , G. Breed and Mark

in Tallmansville contributed to this report.