West Virginia coal mine explosion kills 25, 4 still missing
Officials in the eastern U.S. state of West Virginia say 25 coal miners are dead and four others are missing after an explosion at a coal mine.
Federal mine safety official Kevin Stricklin said early Tuesday rescue workers had halted operations temporarily because of high concentrations of dangerous gases. They plan to drill boreholes in the area as vents so the rescue workers can resume their search.
But Stricklin said there was little hope there were any survivors. He said the amount of methane in the mine indicated a second explosion possibly occurred.
This is the deadliest mine accident in the U.S. since 1984, when 27 workers were killed in a fire in Utah.
Most of the workers from Monday's blast were found dead more than two kilometers underground. Stricklin said they had not reached any of the airtight safety chambers stocked with enough food, water and oxygen to last four days.
The blast was reported Monday afternoon by miners traveling out of the mineshaft at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch South mine in Raleigh County, about 50 kilometers from the state capital, Charleston.
The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined.
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.
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.
VOA News
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