Mine rescue, recovery to be laborious, governor cautions
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Michelle McKinney holds a photo of her father Benny Willingham, one of the miners killed in the West Virginia coal mine explosion. She spoke with the media at Marsh Fork Elementary School. -
Jeannie Sanger, left, whose brother Benny Willingham was a miner killed in the West Virginia coal mine explosion, speaks with the media with her husband Bobby Sanger at Marsh Fork Elementary School. -
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin speaks Tuesday morning during a press conference at the Marsh Fork Elementary School in Whitesville, W.Va. He was onsite to comfort families of miners affected by the explosion at the Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County.
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MONTCOAL, W.Va. -- West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and mine safety officials cautioned today that rescue and recovery would be a slow, laborious process at a mine where 25 miners were killed and four are still missing.
At a late afternoon press conference, they said drilling of two, side-by-side air shafts began today and had proceeded 160 feet down into the Big Branch Mine by 4 p.m. But the shafts must go more than 1,000 feet. Drilling of two more shafts to release methane and carbon monoxide is to begin by nightfall.
Mr. Manchin said families of the miners have been told that nothing is going to change materially until at least 8 a.m., although the relatives will be given updates on the drilling every two hours. The governor said it was suggested that families could leave the area for food and rest, but he knew most would stay until the ordeal was over.
Rescue and recovery leaders who checked the mine today agreed that the layout of the entry portals and the presence of the methane made it unsafe for crews to attempt to re-enter the mine. They had entered after Monday afternoon's explosion, removing two injured and seven dead workers.
Crews also found the bodies of 18 more miners and were able to identify four of them. Rescue leaders explained today that they did not linger over the dead to determine identities after confirming they were not alive because they had to push on to search for the living. Four miners remain unaccounted for. So authorities have not been able to determine who might be still alive. The search procedure was going as planned Monday until increased levels of dangerous gas were detected.
"We do not give up hope until we have confirmed there are bodies," Kevin Stricklin of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said earlier today. But Mr. Manchin and others said officials and the families know the "odds are against us."
Some relatives of the missing and dead are angry that they haven't been contacted by mine owner Massey Energy Co., having to go through back channels to determine whether their loved ones were entombed in the mine.
First Published April 6, 2010 7:28 am
