W. VA. - Worst Coal Mining Accident In 25 Years

Tragedy in West Virginia as an explosion kills 25, injures others and four are missing. The last four were deeper into the mine and there are two rescue chambers close to where they were, so there is a small possibility if they made it to them, they could survive, but no one will know until rescue workers can get inside.

NYT:

The death toll from a blast at a West Virginia coal mine rose to 25 on Tuesday, federal safety officials said, making it the worst mining accident in the United States in 25 years.

A recovery operation was called off early Tuesday morning because high levels of methane gas made the mine unsafe for rescuers. Workers were boring holes into the mine to try to get more oxygen inside, an effort that was not expected to be completed for several hours.

“The bodies will not be recovered until the mine is ventilated,” Ronald L. Wooten, the state’s mine health safety director, said at a news conference early Tuesday.

Sympathies go out to their families.

.