« TOTBAL* | Main | Children as pets »

January 03, 2006

Breaking News - 12 miners found alive UPDATE II at bottom

via FoxNews.

Miracle. Amazing.

UPDATE AP via Yahoo

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a coal mine were found alive late Tuesday, more than 41 hours after the blast, family members said.

Bells at a church where relatives had been gathering rang out as family members ran out screaming in jubilation.

Relatives yelled "They're alive!"

"Miracles happen in West Virginia and today we got one," said Charlotte Weaver, wife of Jack Weaver, one of the men who had been trapped in the mine.

"I got scared a lot of times, but I couldn't give up," she said. "We have an 11-year-old son, and I couldn't go home and tell him, 'Daddy wasn't coming home.'"

One miner was found dead earlier Tuesday, said the mine's owner, International Coal Group Inc.

Neither the company nor the governor's office immediately confirmed that the men were alive.

There were hugs and tears among the crowd outside the Sago Baptist Church near the mine, about 100 miles northeast of Charleston.

A relative at the church said a mine foreman called relatives there, saying the miners had been found.

I was watching coverage on FoxNews, and I have to admit the pealing of the bells of the church raised goosefelsh and brought tears to my eyes.
====================

UPDATE II 6:35 PST

I went to bed last night without first posting my husband's cynical observation that not one "official" was talking to the families or reporters, regardless of church bells. "Anyone can ring a bell."

I wanted to leave it as is.

And I was wrong. Again, AP via Yahoo

55 minutes ago

TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. - In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members were told early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners were dead — three hours after they began celebrating news that they were alive.

The sole survivor was in critical condition but showing signs of brain functioning, a doctor said.

The devastating new information about the others shocked and angered family members, who had rejoiced with Gov. Joe Manchin hours earlier when a rumor began to spread that 12 miners were alive. Rescue crews found the first victim earlier Tuesday evening.

"I can only say there was no one who did anything intentionally other than risk their lives to save their loved ones," Manchin told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"No one can say anything about that would make anything any better," he said. "Just a horrible situation."

The survivor, identified by mining officials as 27-year-old Randal McCloy, was unconscious but moaning when he arrived at a hospital, the hospital said.

I'm terribly saddened by this news and my heart goes out to the families enduring the unenurable. My thoughts and prayers for Randal McCloy and his rapid recovery.

Posted by Darleen at January 3, 2006 09:02 PM

Comments

Now all but one have been confirmed dead. :-(

Posted by: Marian at January 4, 2006 06:27 AM