CHARLESTON, WV - An underground explosion at a coal mine in Tallmansville, WV, Upshur County has trapped 13 miners more than a mile deep underground. Reports from MSNBC say that an Upshur County Emergency official said that originally 16 miners were underground at the time of the explosion but 3 were able to escape. Rescue efforts are underway but officials report they have not been able to communicate with the trapped miners yet.
They've been keeping it updated here. Really Sad
How long have they been down there? very sad?
They just said on the news they think rescue workers may have found a way in and are looking for them.. so I hope this is true and they find them all safe soon
They have been down there I believe they said since 6-630 and that some sort of explosion trapped them in around 8-830. But I may be wrong, I seem to think those are the times that I had heard.
yea they had a rescue team getting ready to go in and it was still letting off gas and couldnt go in.
tragic news....they are all in my prayers and I hope they can rescue them as quick as possible
This is from wsaz.com
9:00PM Update
Crews are only 1,500 feet inside the mine as they wait for drilling to begin for an air shaft and drop listening devices into the West Virginia coal mine where 13 miners remain trapped underground. There has been no communication with the trapped miners since the explosion very early this morning. WSAZ has a crew in Tallmansville, WV, and we will have the latest on NewsChannel 3 Tonight at 11pm.
Also stay tuned for updates on the Severe Weather passing through our region this evening.
CNN is on the scene and is going to stay with the story if anybody wants to watch
This is horrible..... There is a press conference right now on CNN.....
This is a very tragic story..I will keep all the workers and their families in my prayers tonight...
Its 4:55 and they thinki the drill should be through by 6 am. Hopefully they are all ok.....
TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (CNN) -- High levels of toxic carbon monoxide in a coal mine where 13 miners are trapped Tuesday have officials discouraged in their quest to rescue the men.
But hope remains.
"They could be in another location or they could be barricaded somewhere," said Ben Hatfield, president of International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
"This carbon monoxide level far exceeds regulatory limits for respirable air." Hatfield said. "Therefore we are very discouraged by the results of this test."
The miners were trapped early Monday after an explosion and are believed to be about 260 feet below the surface at the end of an angled shaft about 2 miles long. (Watch what officials said about the level of poisonous gas -- 2:09)
Hatfield also said rescuers on the surface pounded on a drill that was placed in an area where the miners were thought to be at the time of the blast. There was no response.
There has been no contact with the miners since Monday's blast.
Views from a camera dropped through the drill hole were inconclusive, Hatfield said.
"No barricades or survivors were seen, but there was also no evidence of substantial explosion damage to the installed equipment that was in view," Hatfield said.
"We remain determined to continue the search so long as there is hope, and hope remains," he said.
Rescuers were sending a track-mounted robot into the main mine shaft. The robot has reached 9,200 feet and can probe another 3,500 feet into the mine. (Interactive: Long path to accident site)
"At this point, our effort is focused on the robotic search," Hatfield said. The cause of Monday's explosion was still unknown, he said.
Near the mine, the mood of hundreds of family members gathered Tuesday morning at the Sago Baptist Church changed considerably after officials briefed them. (Watch where relatives are waiting and weeping -- 1:05)
They're despondent, but holding on to hope, said a friend of one of the miners. Terri Goff, a relative of one of the miners, described his reaction after the briefing.
"We got outside and cried a little bit and we realized that there's still hope," he said. "They could be stuck in another place and ... we can still find these guys, and we need to."
The absence of miners near the area of the concentrated carbon monoxide offered relatives hope that their loved ones escaped to another part of the mine.
The explosion went off in the Sago Mine about 6:30 a.m., and six miners from another team managed to escape the explosion unharmed, authorities said.
The mine is about 8 miles south of the town of Buckhannon in Upshur County near Tallmansville. (Map)
Gov. Joe Manchin said the drilling equipment being used is the same equipment used in the July 2002 rescue of nine miners in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Those miners were pulled to safety after being trapped for 77 hours in a flooded mine.
The cause of Monday's explosion was not immediately known. Manchin said there were high levels of carbon monoxide shortly after the explosion, but those levels have since subsided to a level safe enough to send rescuers in.
The trapped miners are believed to be about 10,000 feet inside the shaft. Shortly after the blast, a mining supervisor and other workers made it about 9,000 feet before turning back due to poor air quality, officials said.
Officials are hoping the experience of the miners pays off. Some of the trapped miners have 30 to 35 years of experience, and all have been working for at least several years.
"It is an experienced crew," said Gene Kitts, the company's senior vice president. "We're just praying that they've had the opportunity to put their training to use."
Kitts said that when an accident happens, a miner is taught to go to "the safest area he can find, barricade himself and wait for someone to come."
"That's what we're hoping is the situation here," he said.
The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen.
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Rescue crews scrapped their conservative approach to free 13 trapped miners Tuesday after efforts to contact the men went unanswered and air samples showed continued high levels of contaminated air.
"We determined with the cooperation of state and federal agencies that we can move forward and at a quicker pace and do it safely," said Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer of mine owner International Coal Group Inc. of Ashland, Ky. "We believe we were overly conservative before." Hatfield said tests found that carbon monoxide levels far exceed federal regulatory limits in the Sago Mine. He made the comments after rescuers trying to reach the trapped miners successfully punched a hole into the mine early Tuesday.
A camera was inserted into the 6 1/4 inch hole to look for signs of life. Drilling crews pounded on steel pipe and listened for a response in the section of the mine where the trapped miners were believed to be located, Hatfield said. "They repeated this process several times over a 10 minute period but the drill crew heard no response," Hatfield said.
Air monitors inserted into the mine found high concentrations of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide levels measured 1,300 parts per million, exceeding the 400 parts per million maximum level that sustains life, Hatfield said. "Therefore we are very discouraged by the results of this test," Hatfield said.
The camera search of the area proved inconclusive, and evidence of extensive damage was not seen. "No barricades or survivors were seen," he said. Still, Hatfield said the trapped miners could still be alive. "They could be in another location or they could be barricaded somewhere," Hatfield said.
Hatfield said officials abandoned plans to move in a camera-equipped track-mounted robot with sensors to measure air quality, saying that without the robot "we can move forward and at a quicker pace and do it safely." The robot had become bogged down in mud inside the mine.
Family members, who had been optimistic and talkative with reporters, earlier retreated to the nearby Sago Baptist Church without making any comments. Rescuers had penetrated 10,200 feet into the mine. The trapped miners are believed about 12,000 feet into the mine.
"We will push forward as quickly as we can as long as there is a shred of hope that we can get our people out safely," Hatfield said. Gov. Joe Manchin said West Virginians "believe in miracles." "We still pray for miracles in West Virginia," Manchin said. "There is still a chance and there's hope and we have that."
It's not sounding good ... everybody just keep praying for them
The one bothers me.
Is there anyone on the board who has mining experience that could honestly give us an idea whether or not these guys have a chance? My mind keeps telling me that they are alive, but I am starting to get nervous (like that matters).
I know there are alot of EKY people on the board, it any of work in the mines--be SAFE, be CAREFUL. You do admirable work--work that most people wouldn't think of doing due to the risk.
KentuckyHillBilly5321 Wrote:The one bothers me.
Is there anyone on the board who has mining experience that could honestly give us an idea whether or not these guys have a chance? My mind keeps telling me that they are alive, but I am starting to get nervous (like that matters).
I know there are alot of EKY people on the board, it any of work in the mines--be SAFE, be CAREFUL. You do admirable work--work that most people wouldn't think of doing due to the risk.
Amen, can anyone give us any more info?
I keep watching MSNBC but they're not saying much. An official spokesperson said it wasn't looking good because of the high carbon monoxide levels where they drilled one of the holes. This is really starting to look bad. They have been talking about maybe finding an air pocket and setting up some sort of ventilation. I don't know how they'd do that, but I hope they can.
just found out that they found 1 body...so theres now 12 miners still in there.....just keep prayin
Hopefully the others will be found ok.
yea they are 12 left down below the earth and lets keep the hope, fox news is covering more live than cnn is.
WOOOOOO 12 are alive WOOOOO HOO breaking NEWS.....I am watching this and getting NOTHING BUT CHILLS ALL OVER ME....WOW im so glad
This is GREAT NEWS!!!! All the prayers have kept them alive...
As Eastern Kentuckians we all know the danger that these brave men face everyday when they leave home and go to work...its a tough job that only a tough man can do. Thank god 12 of these guys have been found alive...GREAT news.