One miner survives explosion at Sago mine; fund will aid victims' families
International Coal Group owner Wilbur L. Ross said late Wednesday that the Sago Mine Fund had been established with a $2 million grant from the company to provide financial support to victims' families.
"A terrible tragedy has occurred and everyone at International Coal Group shares the grief of the families of the 12 miners who lost their lives despite the best efforts of our company, Gov. Joe Manchin and the rescue teams," Ross said.
"Our intentions are to do the right thing and protect our people the best we can," said Bennett Hatfield, president and CEO of ICG. "Our goal is to always see that our people get home safely each day, and we will redouble our efforts to make sure that a tragedy like this never occurs again. Our management is working diligently with the government investigators to learn the cause of the explosion, and we will report all findings in the hope that lessons learned here may help prevent similar problems at other mines."
Only Randal L. McCloy Jr., 27, was rescued alive from ICG's Sago mine near Tallmansville, W.Va., late Tuesday evening, more than 41 hours after an explosion trapped 13 miners early Monday morning.
Rescue crews found one body about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday. That miner appeared to have died from injuries received from the explosion itself.
Miscommunication crisis
In a terrible swing of emotions, unofficial word came just before midnight that 12 of the 13 were alive. That turned out to be incorrect.
Miscommunication from the rescue team underground to the command center resulted in the incorrect report of survivors, said Hatfield in a press conference Wednesday afternoon. A conversation was relayed to families without ICG's authorization.
"People in the command center believed there were 12 survivors because that was initially the information that came to the command center, but that was wrong," he said. About 20 minutes after the good news, rescuers reported an "error in the previous communication." There were 12 individuals, but they were not all alive. It appeared 11 were dead and one was alive."
However, the families were not notified of the change for about three hours.
"I would not wish that on anyone," he said early Wednesday morning of the families being initially told 12 had survived. "I regret that it happened. Welcome to the worst day of my life."
Hatfield said the rescue team found the miners about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday at the production face in the second left section of the mine behind a rough barricade miners constructed using a ventilation curtain to secure a safe breathing area about 13,000 feet from the mine portal. "The mine rescue team did an exceptional job of providing medical care to stabilize the lone survivor," he said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
"The miners [behind the barricade] survived for a period of time. They had donned their self-contained breathing apparatus and headed to a barricaded area not far from the first drill hole." He said they appeared to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Hatfield surmised that miners tried to exit the mine after the explosion, encountered dense smoke "and concluded they had no safe way to exit the mine." The oxygen supply the miners carried "lasts for one hour with aggressive walking," but could have possibly been stretched out.
As for McCloy, Hatfield theorized that he may have been the lone survivor because he was "deeper in the barricaded area from the toxic gasses or because he was younger and able to space out his breathing."
Survivor stabilized in hospital
McCloy was treated at a triage center set up at the mine then taken by ambulance to St. Joseph's Hospital in nearby Buckhannon, W.Va., about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Dr. Susan Long from St. Joseph's said McCloy was unconscious but moaning when he arrived and was in critical condition. Hospital staff placed him on a ventilator, stabilized him then transferred him by ambulance to West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital, a level 1 trauma center in Morgantown, W.Va.
Long said McCloy's carbon monoxide levels were negative, he was dehydrated and he had no visible burns. "We have no idea what happened in there. We have no idea if he received trauma in there."
Dr. Larry Roberts of Ruby Memorial said McCloy was in critical but guarded condition about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Although he was sedated, Roberts said McCloy "responded with facial expressions and by squeezing hands."
One of McCloy's lungs "was almost completely collapsed when he arrived" at Ruby and he was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, "poorly hydrated and having kidney dysfunction," Roberts said. He was placed on hemodialysis, but the doctor said he assumed it would be temporary. "The good news is that in every other bodily function test we do, he is very stable. Oxygen in his tissue seems very normal. There has been progress in the right direction. If the trend continues, I expect he will improve."
Although he had been deprived of oxygen, Roberts said a hyperbolic chamber was not necessary and a CT scan showed no major injury to McCloy's brain.
— Mark E. Heckathorn