West Virginia explosion traps 13 coal miners

By Juliet Terry

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (Reuters) – Rescuers on Monday
began efforts to reach 13 miners trapped more than a mile
underground by an early morning explosion at a West Virginia
coal mine.

Rescuers from four states were digging their way into Sago
mine in hopes of finding the miners, said Steve Milligan of
Upshur County’s Office of Emergency Management.

“It could be hours, or it could be days,” Milligan said of
the rescue effort that was hampered by high gas concentrations
outside the mine. Local rescuers were joined by others from
neighboring states of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The cause of the blast, which occurred about 6:30 a.m.
(1130 GMT), was not yet known, said officials. There had been
no communication with the trapped miners as darkness fell on
the area.

“We’re really hoping and praying for a speedy recovery and
a safe recovery for them,” Gov. Joe Manchin told CNN.

“We don’t know what could have happened. It was just a
horrific accident.”

After ventilation fans dissipated the unidentified gas
outside the mine, rescuers headed inside to assess damage and
start digging through a wall of debris blocking access to the
miners, Milligan said.

Hundreds of family and friends gathered at a nearby Baptist
church where the Red Cross set up operations.

Loretta Abel said her fiancé was among the trapped miners.
“He was going to call in sick today but he wanted to make more
money for the holidays,” she said in a telephone interview.

The mine, owned by International Coal Group Inc which
acquired it through a recent merger, is located in central West
Virginia, about 100 miles from Charleston.

Miners are equipped with breathing equipment and other
survival supplies. “There’s always that possibility, that hope
and that chance, they were able to go to a part of the mine
that still has safe air,” Manchin said. “There’s places they
can retreat in all these mines. They have catacombs.”

MINE REOPENING AFTER HOLIDAY

The explosion happened when the mine was reopening after it
had been closed for the holidays, according to Manchin’s
spokeswoman, Lara Ramsburg.

Ramsburg said two cars had been entering the mine and the
second car, carrying six miners, made it out after feeling the
effects of the explosion.

The six miners tried to reenter the mine to rescue their
fellow workers but could not reach them, she said.

Gas levels outside the mine had threatened further
explosions and caused officials to evacuate the area before the
gas was dissipated. The gas was initially thought to be
methane, but officials later said they were not certain what it
was.

There were also worries about a build-up of carbon monoxide
from fires in the mine, said Terry Farley of the West Virginia
Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training.

Since October, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health
Administration has issued 50 citations to Sago mine, some as
recently as December 21, including citations for accumulation
of combustible materials such as coal dust and loose coal.

“The incident coincided with a local thunderstorm but we do
not know at this time whether those events were related,” said
International Coal Group spokesman Roger Nicholson.

Manchin, who was in Atlanta to attend the Sugar Bowl
football game between the University of Georgia and West
Virginia University, left to return to West Virginia.

The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and
Training says there were three fatalities involving miners in
2005 from three separate incidents.

In 2002, nine Pennsylvania coal miners were rescued after a
77-hour ordeal in a flooded mine shaft 240 feet underground.

(Additional reporting by Chriss Swaney in Pittsburgh and
Doina Chiacu in Washington)