UPDATE - the search is over.
Around 2:30 p.m. EST this afternoon two eight-person teams began their trek back into the Big Branch Mine to locate four miners that have remained missing since Monday’s horrific explosion.
About 12:45 a.m. EST the West Virginia Governor held a press conference reporting that the 4 have been found, but did not survive.
As I diaried earlier, this finding is the result of a 4th attempt to locate the missing miners. The first time rescuers went into the mine after the explosion they apparently walked past three of the four missing miners without seeing them, because of the smoke and dust in the area. The fourth and final missing miner was found deeper into the mine around 11:30 p.m. EST Friday, Stricklin said.
The Governor said none of the miners ever made it into a refuge chamber, indicating death came quickly and no one suffered.
I will continue to update as info becomes available.
Recovery of the 22 bodies of the miners will begin soon. The Governor indicated that rescue workers were devastated by their finding this evening. "It's hard to turn a rescue into a recovery with the same group of people," Stricklin said. In all, 29 miners died in the explosion. Funerals for the 7 miners that were able to be recovered on Monday began on Friday.
Per the West Virginia Gazette:
Two other miners were injured in the explosion. One of them has been released from a local hospital, while the other remains in intensive care in Charleston, but no information on his condition has been released. A complete list of the victims and the injured has not yet been made public. http://wvgazette.com/...
Per Reuters:
Four missing West Virginia coal miners were found dead early on Saturday, more than four days after an explosion killed 25 others and trapped them deep underground at a Massey Energy mine.
Officials had hoped the miners made it to a refuge chamber stocked with food, oxygen and air, which had been their only chance at survival after Monday's blast at the Upper Big Branch mine, 30 miles south of the state capital Charleston.
Rescue teams found the miners on their fourth attempt after earlier efforts were thwarted by thick smoke, fire and an explosive build-up of methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
"We did not get the miracle we prayed for," West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin told a news briefing.
With a death toll of 29, the West Virginia disaster is the deadliest mine accident in nearly 40 years. In 1972, 125 people died after a dam broke at Buffalo Mining Company in Saunders, West Virginia, and, in 1970, 38 miners died after there was an explosion at Finley Coal Company in Hyden, Kentucky.
During the painstaking West Virginia rescue effort boreholes were drilled 1,100 feet into the mine for ventilation and then nitrogen pumped into the mine to neutralize the threat of an explosion and extinguish the fire.
Efforts to drill a borehole and lower a remote camera into the mine failed when the drill struck an underground pillar.
Only seven bodies were recovered on Monday after the explosion and the first funerals were held on Friday.
West Virginia Governor Manchin ordered all State flags at all State-owned facilities throughout the State be lowered to half-staff in commemoration of the mining tragedy.
also Per the West Virginia Governor's website http://www.wvgov.org/...
April 8, 2010
DONATIONS FOR FAMILIES OF MINE DISASTER VICTIMS BEING ACCEPTED
Contact: Sara Payne Scarbro, 304-558-2000
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Council of Churches has established the Montcoal Mining Disaster Fund, and is now accepting donations to be distributed among the families of miners who were killed in Monday’s explosion at Performance Coal Company’s Upper Big Branch mine.
Individuals from across West Virginia and the nation have offered support for these families through prayer, condolences and donations.
Governor Manchin said, "The outpouring of support from fellow West Virginians, as well as citizens across the country, has been truly gratifying. The mining families continue to endure in this very tough time and will need as much support in the future as possible."
"I appreciate the West Virginia Council of Churches and their efforts to assist these grieving families," said Manchin.
Anyone who wishes to make a monetary contribution should contact the West Virginia Council of Churches at 304-344-3141 or visit http://www.wvcc.org/ for details.
In addition, gifts and other items are being accepted for the families of the deceased miners at Appalachian Bible College. For details about non-monetary donations please visit http://www.abc.edu/...