Community Heartbroken Over Miners' Deaths

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members learned early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners were dead — three hours after they began celebrating the news that their loved ones were alive.

The sole survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition with a collapsed lung and dehydration but no sign of brain damage or carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped by an explosion for more than 42 hours, a doctor said. At 27, McCloy was among the youngest in the group.

The last of the 12 bodies were taken out of the mine at midmorning. The cause of death was not disclosed, but it appeared the men survived the blast itself. Officials said the 12 were found together behind a curtain-like fabric barrier they had set up to keep out carbon monoxide gas, which was detected in deadly concentrations inside the mine.

It was the nation's deadliest coal mining disaster in more than four years.

The devastating new information about the dead 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. Bystanders applauded as they saw McCloy brought from the mine early Wednesday, not realizing he would be the only one to come out alive.

"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, who officials said was found in the same area as the other men, 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 Morgantown. 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 Roberts said. Most of the other miners were in their 50s, and doctors said that McCloy's youth may have helped him survive.

Charles 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."

At the White House, President Bush said the entire nation mourns the loss, and he saluted the rescuers "who risked their lives to save those miners for showing such courage."

The 13 miners had been trapped 260 feet below the surface of the Sago Mine since an explosion early Monday. The mine is bout 100 miles northeast of Charleston. As rescue workers tried to get to the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during a grueling two-day vigil.

But late Tuesday night, families began streaming out of the church, yelling "They're alive!" The church 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.

Ben Hatfield, chief executive of mine owner International Coal Group, 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.

Hatfield said it became clear within 20 minutes that the news was terribly wrong. But he said families were not told of the mistake until three hours later because officials wanted to have all the information right first.

"Let's put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn't know if there were 12 or one" alive, the executive said.

When the bad news was delivered to the families, "there was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door," said Nick Helms, son of miner Terry Helms, one of the dead.

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.

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. 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 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.

Federal Labor Department officials promised an investigation. Acting Assistant Secretary David 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 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 to purify the air and had been able to use it, according to mining officials.

A hole drilled into the mine nearby earlier during the ordeal found deadly levels of carbon monoxide, a byproduct of combustion. 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.