Mine survivor in coma, may have brain damage

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Slide show

Miners mourned
Friends and relatives remember the 12 trapped miners who died at the Sago Mine. Click "Launch" to view images.

Apology from officials
Hatfield said that the Ashland, Ky.-based company did the best it could under extreme stress and exhaustion, and that officials “sincerely regret” the families were left to believe for so long that their loved ones were alive.

“In the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have,” a choked-up Hatfield said.

He said the initial mistake resulted from a miscommunication among the rescue crews. Another ICG executive, Vice President Gene Kitts, suggested the misunderstanding resulted because the rescuers who reached the victims were wearing full-face oxygen masks and used radios to report their findings to their base.

One of the dead was discovered several hundred feet from where the others had barricaded themselves in the maze-like mine. Hatfield said that miner, found near a belt used to move coal to the surface, was apparently killed by the force of the blast.

Rescuers heard moans
ICG’s Kitts said the rescuers realized McCloy was alive when they heard his moans.

Mine company officials would not say exactly how the 12 miners died or how long they survived, citing privacy concerns.

A fund to provide financial support to the miners’ families has been established by ICG with an initial contribution of $2 million, company Chairman Wilbur L. Ross announced Wednesday.

The explosion was West Virginia’s deadliest coal mining accident since 1968, when 78 men died in an explosion at a mine in Marion County, an hour’s drive from here. That disaster prompted Congress to pass the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.

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