Jan 3rd, 2006 - 6pm I visited the Sago area today. I didn't really know that I needed to be either a member of the press or a relative to get near the sight, so the WV State Police turned us around and sent us back toward Buckhannon. |
| I really wanted some pictures from the area, so I parked 1/2 mile away from the check point and tried hitching a ride. The first car I stopped was a newpaper reporter who tried to discourage me from visiting and eventually said he wouldn't take me in. The 2nd car was EMS people and they looked at me like I was crazy. |
| The third person was nice lady who stopped as I waived down her car. I asked for a ride and she smiled and said sure! So I jumped in and we started talking. Turns out she was a nurse who was working when they pulled the first miners out. She said that only one miner injured ,needing some coal dust washed from his eyes after the blast occured. The nurse was going back to the Sago church to assist the miner's relatives gathered there. |
| When we arrived at the sight I saw a BUNCH of EMS, State Police, Fire Fighters, News cameras, photographers and plenty of vehicles! I'll bet there was 20 support people for every resident in the area. |
| I found out that they wouldn't let anyone near the actual mine site. You couldn't even see where they were digging. Mostly it was the families waiting in the church area for any kind of news. |
Governor Joe Manchin stopped in for a brief visit with some of the relatives.
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January 2nd, 2006: A coal mine explosion that may have been sparked by lightning trapped 13 miners more than a mile underground Monday, state officials said. "There was some type of explosion either heard or felt by the miners attempting to go in the mine for a shift change," said Lara Ramsburg, spokeswoman for Gov. Joe Manchin. "They then backtracked out of the mine." Rescue workers have not been able to reach the miners already in the mine, said Steve Milligan, deputy director of Upshur County's Office of Emergency Management. Four co-workers attempted to reach the missing miners, but they "came to a wall," Milligan said. A trained mine rescue team was en route. The mine is about 100 miles northeast of Charleston in the north-central part of the state. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known and details were sketchy, but Ramsburg said officials believe it may have been caused by a lightning strike. A series of severe thunderstorms moved through West Virginia early Monday. Officials originally placed the time of the explosion at 8 a.m., but Ramsburg said it happened between 6 and 6:30 a.m. The mine is owned by Anker West Virginia Mining Co. Anker was recently purchased by International Coal Group. |
In November, International Coal Group, headed by New York billionaire Wilbur Ross, said in a filing that it hoped to raise up to $291.7 million in a planned initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Ross, who specializes in buying and selling troubled companies, and partners bought most of Horizon Natural Resources Co. — once the nation’s fourth largest coal company — for $786 million in 2004, after a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled that Horizon did not have to honor union contracts that guaranteed benefits for the miners. |
According to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, the mine's most recent inspection, in December, found 46 violations. They included a citation for accumulation of combustible materials. There also were concerns about water sprinkler systems and the quantity and location of firefighting equipment. The mine agency has proposed about $3,000 in fines. |
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