Drills are boring into a West Virginia coal mine today in the hope of rescuing four miners missing after a blast killed 25 people in the worst US mine disaster in a quarter century.
The explosion happened on Monday at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine, 48 km south of the state capital Charleston. Eleven dead have been identified, three of whom were related, and 14 bodies are still in the mine.
Giant drills were slowly drilling down 300 metres in a bid to hit a six-metre long chamber where authorities believe the missing miners could be. The drills are due to break through this afternoon, said Chris Adkins, Massey Energy's chief operating officer. The drilling aims to release any dangerous build up of gases in the mine and will allow rescuers to try and contact the missing miners.
"That mine is so full of methane gas and all kinds of toxins that if someone went in there now they would take one breath and they would die," West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller told CNN yesterday evening. "We hope there will be a miracle," he said.
In 2006, Randal McCloy was rescued from a coal mine in Sago, West Virginia, nearly 42 hours after a blast killed 12 of his co-workers.
Massey Energy was fined more than $382,000 dollars in the past year for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment.
The company’s chief executive said the mine was not unsafe, but federal regulators planned to review its violations, many of which involved venting methane gas. If the odourless, colourless gas is not kept at safe levels, a small spark can ignite it.
The Richmond, Virginia-based company is the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia, operating in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.
Massey's accident rate fell to an all-time low in 2009, the sixth consecutive year its safety record was stronger than the industry average, the company said on its website.
But Upper Big Branch Mine has had three fatalities since 1998 and has a worse-than-average injury rate over the last 10 years, according to federal records. Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safety and Health News, said the mine has been repeatedly cited for safety violations.
Some 50 mourners packed St Joseph’s Catholic church a few miles from the disaster to honour the victims and pray hat the missing turn up safe.
Agencies