What caused the coal mine explosion in West Virginia at Montcoal?”
MONTCOAL, W.Va. — Four coal miners were missing after an explosion that killed 25 and poison gases blocked rescuers Tuesday from resuming their search in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades. Rescuers began drilling three deep holes to vent methane and carbon monoxide from the mine so that search teams can go back in. But it will take until evening to get the first hole done and see if the mine air will allow re-entry , Gov. Joe Manchin said. The blast rocked Massey Energy Co.’s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston, Monday afternoon. Manchin said at an early morning news briefing that while drilling on at least one of the three holes was slated to begin soon, it would take perhaps 12 hours before the drilling was complete and rescue teams could be sure of their safety in the mine, meaning the search wasn’t expected to resume before 5 p.m. CDT. “It’s going to be a long day and we’re not going to have a lot of information until we can get
Officials at the site of a Monday afternoon explosion at Massey Energy’s Performance Coal Co. in Montcoal in western Raleigh County confirmed early Tuesday that 25 miners died in the blast. At a 2 a.m. press briefing, Kevin Stricklin, a Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) administrator, said rescue teams were pulled from the mine due to conditions inside. At that time four miners remained unaccounted for and two were receiving treatment at area hospitals. Concentrations of methane and carbon monoxide that rescue crews detected in the mine “were to the point that they were risking their own lives,” Stricklin said. Rescue efforts will resume as soon as conditions permit. Officials also plan to drill bore holes from the surface into the mine to help ventilate it and to collect samples. That process will take some time because a road will have to be dozed to the site where the hole will be drilled, he said. The incident at Massey Energy’s Performance Upper Big Branch Mine occurred
From the AP brief: “AP Top News at 12:05 a.m. EDT (AP) – 25 minutes ago MONTCOAL, W.Va. — An explosion rocked a remote coal mine with a history of safety problems Monday, killing seven workers and trapping 19 others thousands of feet underground. Rescuers converged on Massey Energy Co.’s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine where the blast occurred around 3 p.m.
