Death Toll From US
Mine Blast Hits 25
Twenty-five
miners are now known to have died and four are missing after an
accident at a West Virginia coal mine.
The accident was caused by an underground explosion at the Upper
Big Branch mine, near the south of Charleston in the eastern US.
The mine's owner, Massey Energy Company said a number of workers
were in a vehicle transporting them out of the mine when the
blast occurred on Monday, around 19:00 GMT.
Rescue efforts
The number of fatalities makes this the worst US mine disaster
since 1984.
Safety officials said rising methane gas levels had heightened
the risk of another explosion resulting to a suspension of
rescue efforts.
Massey Energy said the operation would resume as soon as
conditions allowed and there were plans to drill a borehole from
the surface to try to reach the missing men.
Prayers for the family
West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller said, ’’We are sending
all of our prayers and thoughts to the brave miners and their
families.’’
West Virginia Governor, Joe Manchin, said President Obama had
promised to make every asset available to help ensure that
rescue continues.
Earlier reports suggested that some of the miners may have
survived, evoking memories of the Sago mine disaster in the same
state in 2006 when thirteen miners trapped for forty-two hours
were declared to be still alive, only for 12 of them to
be found dead.
BBC/Williams/Yinka
