Official apologizes to families in mine tragedy

< Prev | 1 | 2

Words from Bush
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.”

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.”

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called for hearings to determine how the tragedy happened, according to NBC News.

“We owe it to these miners and their families to find out what happened and whether this accident could have been prevented,” Kennedy said. “In addition, we should investigate the troubled history of repeated safety violations at the mine.”

Reps. George Miller, D-Calif., and Major Owens, D-N.Y., echoed the need for a probe, saying the Sago Mine in West Virginia was cited for over 200 safety violations in 2005.

The miners had been trapped 260 feet down in the Sago Mine, which is shaped like a large backward “F” and situated about 100 miles northeast of Charleston. As rescue workers tried to reach the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during a grueling vigil.

Explosion to be investigated
State and federal officials said they were launching investigations into the cause of the blast. Coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas or highly combustible coal dust in the air.

David Dye, who heads the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the investigation will include “how emergency information was relayed about the trapped miners’ conditions.”

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.

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.

NBC News contributed to this report.

< Prev | 1 | 2