West Virginia Mining Disaster

I noticed in the paper this morning the headline that twelve of the thirteen miners trapped in a West Virginia coal mine had been found alive, and I thought that was very good news to hear. Then later in the day, I heard the horrible truth - twelve of them were dead, and only one had survived. The initial report of their survival had been a "miscommunication" based on a report that twelve miners had been found and the rescuers were checking their vital signs. What was left out was that the check for their vital signs turned up empty. Joy at the local church and thanks to Jesus Christ turned into anger and hatred for the mining company. By the time the earlier headline announcing the good news that turned out to be wrong was in the morning papers, a fistfight had even broken out in the church out of disbelief and pandemonium.

For journalism, it was a "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment of the worst possible kind. For the miners' families, it was the most horrible outcome imaginable. It has also been noted that the International Coal Group, who owned the mine, had been cited for several safety violations over the years, and that these miners may have in fact lost their lives needlessly. If the violations are the cause, then this disaster should call for the severest punishment imaginable to this company (and even that may not enough). An investigation is pending, and surviving miner Randal McCloy is in critical condition at a local hospital.

West Virginia may be almost heaven, but for a dozen miners, 260 feet below ground proved to be hell. :-(