[BurntTires]

issued to trapped miners did not work. This is bad news. It just now came on CNN as a news alert. I dont have a link yet.

[BFritz]

issued to trapped miners did not work. This is bad news. It just now came on CNN as a news alert. I dont have a link yet.

The mining company and/or the air packs will be sued into bankruptcy

[Pirate Pal]

Unbelievable!!!!!! This really frightens me!

[BFritz]

Unbelievable!!!!!! This really frightens me!

It does, but then again they know the risks when they go into the profession. Then again, they do expect things like air bags to work

[Batpuff]

Here is some of what he recalls:

Text of Sago Mine survivor's letter

Thursday, April 27, 2006; Posted: 1:11 p.m. EDT (17:11 GMT)


Randy McCloy as seen on March 30, when he left the hospital with his family.
BUCKHANNON, West Virginia (AP) -- The following are excerpts of a letter sent to victims' families this week by Randal McCloy Jr., the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster.

The letter mentions several mining terms: a "man-trip" is a vehicle that transports miners, a "rescuer" is an emergency air pack, and a "coal rib" is a mine wall.

To the families and loved ones of my co-workers, victims of the Sago Mine disaster:

The explosion happened soon after the day shift arrived at the mine face on January 2, right after we got out of the man-trip. I do not recall whether I had started work, nor do I have any memory of the blast. I do remember that the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke, and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable.

The first thing we did was activate our rescuers, as we had been trained. At least four of the rescuers did not function. I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Junior Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around.

We then tried to return to the man-trip, yelling to communicate through the thick smoke. The air was so bad that we had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet.

We attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time, we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface.

We eventually gave out and quit our attempts at signaling, sitting down behind the curtain on the mine floor, or on buckets or cans that some of us found. The air behind the curtain grew worse, so I tried to lie as low as possible and take shallow breaths. While methane does not have an odor like propane and is considered undetectable, I could tell that it was gassy. We all stayed together behind the curtain from that point on, except for one attempt by Junior Toler and Tom Anderson to find a way out. The heavy smoke and fumes caused them to quickly return. There was just so much gas.

We were worried and afraid, but we began to accept our fate. Junior Toler led us all in the Sinners Prayer. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones. I wrote a letter to Anna and my children. When I finished writing, I put the letter in Jackie Weaver's lunch box, where I hoped it would be found.

As time went on, I became very dizzy and lightheaded. Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving. It was clear that there was nothing I could do to help him. The last person I remember speaking to was Jackie Weaver, who reassured me that if it was our time to go, then God's will would be fulfilled. As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else. I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue.

I cannot begin to express my sorrow for my lost friends and my sympathy for those they left behind. I cannot explain why I was spared while the others perished. I hope that my words will offer some solace to the miners' families and friends who have endured that no one should ever have to endure.

[alfus21]

Here is some of what he recalls:

Text of Sago Mine survivor's letter

Thursday, April 27, 2006; Posted: 1:11 p.m. EDT (17:11 GMT)


Randy McCloy as seen on March 30, when he left the hospital with his family.
BUCKHANNON, West Virginia (AP) -- The following are excerpts of a letter sent to victims' families this week by Randal McCloy Jr., the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster.

The letter mentions several mining terms: a "man-trip" is a vehicle that transports miners, a "rescuer" is an emergency air pack, and a "coal rib" is a mine wall.

To the families and loved ones of my co-workers, victims of the Sago Mine disaster:

The explosion happened soon after the day shift arrived at the mine face on January 2, right after we got out of the man-trip. I do not recall whether I had started work, nor do I have any memory of the blast. I do remember that the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke, and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable.

The first thing we did was activate our rescuers, as we had been trained. At least four of the rescuers did not function. I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Junior Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around.

We then tried to return to the man-trip, yelling to communicate through the thick smoke. The air was so bad that we had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet.

We attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time, we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface.

We eventually gave out and quit our attempts at signaling, sitting down behind the curtain on the mine floor, or on buckets or cans that some of us found. The air behind the curtain grew worse, so I tried to lie as low as possible and take shallow breaths. While methane does not have an odor like propane and is considered undetectable, I could tell that it was gassy. We all stayed together behind the curtain from that point on, except for one attempt by Junior Toler and Tom Anderson to find a way out. The heavy smoke and fumes caused them to quickly return. There was just so much gas.

We were worried and afraid, but we began to accept our fate. Junior Toler led us all in the Sinners Prayer. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones. I wrote a letter to Anna and my children. When I finished writing, I put the letter in Jackie Weaver's lunch box, where I hoped it would be found.

As time went on, I became very dizzy and lightheaded. Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving. It was clear that there was nothing I could do to help him. The last person I remember speaking to was Jackie Weaver, who reassured me that if it was our time to go, then God's will would be fulfilled. As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else. I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue.

I cannot begin to express my sorrow for my lost friends and my sympathy for those they left behind. I cannot explain why I was spared while the others perished. I hope that my words will offer some solace to the miners' families and friends who have endured that no one should ever have to endure.

That's amazing to read...Thanks for posting that...

[BFritz]

That letter's hard to read, sounds like something from a movie, I bet a movie gets made based off this

[BurntTires]

Here is a link to the story.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/27/mccloy....index.html

[Pirate Pal]

It does, but then again they know the risks when they go into the profession. Then again, they do expect things like air bags to work

I know all too well about miners and the mining business. My grandfather was a miner, my dad was a miner and owned mines, my husband is a miner.

[BFritz]

I know all too well about miners and the mining business. My grandfather was a miner, my dad was a miner and owned mines, my husband is a miner.

I wish him luck, I'll pray for his safety regularly

[Pirate Pal]

I wish him luck, I'll pray for his safety regularly

Thanks Bfritz!

[BFritz]

Thanks Bfritz!

Not a problem.

[BC75]

Thanks for the post.

[Crossbones]

Again, I have worked in the mining industry for years and this is not a uncommon thing(self rescurers to go bad). Most have a four year shelf life, but that time is cut drastically while being worn on the miners side because of misuse and just being thrown around. What will happen is the mine foreman books will be looked over thouroghly and too see if the rescurers had been shake tested every 45 days. A shake test is a little machine that is straped to the SCSR and you shake it and the machine will tell you if it is bad or not. There are two little windows on the SCSR that are supposed to be blue, if they are pink then the SCSR is bad. But sometimes the windows will stay blue even though the SCSR is still bad. Another thing is the SCSR's were not turned on properly, maybe in a state of panic. And the miners thought they were bad. Could have been several senerios.