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West Virginia Coal Mine Explosion Kills 12

     06 April 2010
   Emergency vehicles near the mine site in West Virginia

   Emergency vehicles near the mine site in West Virginia

   At  least  12  coal  miners  are  reported dead and several others are
   missing  after an explosion at amine in the eastern U.S. state of West
   Virginia.
   Federal  mine safety official Kevin Stricklin said rescue workers were
   working hard early Tuesday to reach the area far below ground where at
   least 10 workers were trapped.
   Stricklin  said  the  workers  were  probably more than two kilometers
   underground.   He  said  the  rescue team was hopeful the workers had
   reached  one of the airtight safety chambers stocked with enough food,
   water and oxygen to last four days.
   The  blast  happened  Monday  afternoon  at  Massey Energy's Upper Big
   Branch  South  mine  in  Raleigh  County,  about  50  kilometers  from
   Charleston, the state capital.
   The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined.  But mine safety
   experts  say it could have been the result of a methane gas buildup in
   the  shaft.   Methane gas is highly flammable and is frequently found
   in coal mines.

   The  mine  has  had a spotty safety record, with a higher than average
   injury rate.
   Massey  Energy chief Don Blankenship said safety is a priority for the
   company  and  they  were  working  hard to rescue to remaining trapped
   miners.
   Stricklin  said  the explosion occurred as workers were traveling up a
   mineshaft  to  exit  the mine.  A second group, farther up, said they
   felt  a  blast  of air.  They went back to investigate and found nine
   workers, seven of whom were already dead.
   It  is  not  clear what the situation was further down the mine, where
   the other miners were at work.
   State  Governor  Joe  Manchin,  who  was  away  on a personal trip, is
   returning home.
   West  Virginia  is also where 12 miners died after an explosion in the
   Sago  coal  mine  in  January  2006.  That  accident  trapped  13  men
   underground for two days.  One miner survived, while the rest died of
   carbon monoxide poisoning.

   Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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