As many as 14 miners are unaccounted for and 12 are dead after an explosion at a Massey Energy Co. coal mine in Montcoal, Raleigh County, West VA. This happened around 3 - 4 pm at Massey's Performance Coal Company Upper Big Branch Mine.
Instead of continuing to update this diary with (mostly depressing) news, I will post a new diary with any future updates.
This was reported by Terry Farley, administrator at the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training and state Homeland Security officials. Mine owners confirmed the explosion and said rescue teams as well as state and federal officials are responding to the explosion. Ambulance services in the area also were responding.
In addition to the 12 deaths, and 14 missing, CNN is reporting that about 21 miners have also been injured (per Scare below). One of the injured was in critical condition and is now in intensive care.
Even though this is a non-union mine, the UMWA is dispatching a team to the site to offer whatever assistance they are able (per BalmerUSA below).
The Upper Branch Mine site has a worse-than-average non-fatal injury rate, and there have been 3 fatalities there. In January 1998, a miner died when materials fell on him and in March 2001, another miner died when he was struck by falling rock at the mine. In 2003, an electrician died after being electrocuted while repairing a shuttle car.
http://www.dailymail.com/...
UPDATE 1: This could rank among one of the worst mine disasters in West Virginia (and in U.S.) history, depending on how many are rescued (HOPEFULLY EVERY SINGLE ONE). The Sago coal mine explosion in WV on January 2, 2006, trapped 13 miners for almost two days, but only 1 of 13 survived. The Jim Walter Resources Mine Disaster in Alabama on September 23, 2001 killed 13 people. On November 20, 1968 there was an explosion at Consolidation Coal's Number Nine mine in Farmington, WV. 99 miners were underground at the time; 21 made it out, the other 78 didn't.
UPDATE 2: I need to step away from the computer for a few hours, but you may be able to find updates from local news sources here:
http://wvgazette.com
http://www.dailymail.com
http://www.wchstv.com
Update 3 from http://wvgazette.com (thanks to CA Berkeley WV):
Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, issued a short statement that provided few details:
"At approximately 3:30 p.m. EDT, the Mine Safety and Health Administration was notified of a mine explosion at the Upper Big Branch South Mine (Performance Coal Company) in Whitesville, W.Va. MSHA District Manager Robert Hardman is on the scene, along with a family liaison. Rescue efforts are underway."
The Upper Big Branch Mine-South employs about 200 workers and last year produced about 1.2 million tons of coal, according to company disclosures filed with MSHA. The mine uses an advanced longwall mining operation.
In seven of the last 10 years, the mine has recorded a non-fatal injury rate worse than the national average for similar operations, according to MSHA statistics.
One miner was killed at the operation in a July 2003 electrical accident and another in a March 2001 roof fall, according to MSHA records.
Update 4: The numbers on the missing and dead have changed - it is now reported that 7 have died and 19 miners are still missing. Hopefully the number of deaths from now on will not increase and the number of missing will soon be 0.
Rescue teams from CONSOL Energy and Massey as well as part of the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training team are searching for the missing miners.
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin was out of town, but is making his way back now. His Chief of Staff Jim Spears is at the mine.
It has been reported that the mine should be equipped with caches of extra oxygen along emergency escape routes and airtight refuge chambers designed to provide enough air to keep miners alive for four days if they can't make their way out. West Virginia also requires all underground mines to have wireless communications and tracking systems designed to survive explosions and other disasters.
The UMW said it has personnel nearby to help families of miners, as needed, and the UMW said it is willing to help the mine owners in any other way. But it seems doubful to me that the owners will take them up on it. Massey is extremely non-union and it is reported that Massey's Chief Executive Don Blankenship's television set with a UMW fired bullet in it still sits in his office.
Fortunately, the number of deaths of miners overall has fallen over the past few years. "Only" 34 miners were killed last year, the fewest since officials began keeping records nearly a century ago. But it's still a hell of a difficult and dangerous job.