W.Va. Funerals Begin; Searchers Re-Enter Mine

MONTCOAL, W.Va. (April 9) -- Families, friends and President Barack Obama began saying final farewells today to 25 West Virginia coal miners killed in a mine explosion, while rescuers re-entered the mine this afternoon with the slimmest hopes of saving four others still missing.

Gov. Joe Manchin said late tonight that he expected the search would be wrapped up around midnight. Once rescue efforts are finished, crews can begin recovering the 18 bodies that remain the mine.

The first funeral, for Benny Willingham, was held this afternoon. Willingham, 61, was just five weeks from retiring when he died.

Four other funerals are scheduled through Saturday. The phones at the Armstrong Funeral Home in Whitesville, W.Va., were busy most of the morning in advance of the funeral for Gary "Spanky" Quarles, 33, of Naoma. "We're doing the best we can," said Forrest Ramsey, an Armstrong employee.

At the White House this afternoon, Obama paid tribute to the miners and said he wants a preliminary report next week from agencies about what went wrong, in order to prevent similar accidents.

"I want to offer my deepest condolences to the fathers and husbands and brothers, nephews and sons who were killed in this accident," he said. "I am also in awe of the courage and selflessness of the rescue teams that risked their lives over and over and over this week for the chance to save another."

This afternoon, two search teams were sent back in after explosive gas reached acceptable levels, said Kevin Stricklin of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, plans to drop down a camera to check a refuge chamber for the missing miners were stymied when a boring hole hit a pillar, he said.

Hours earlier, Stricklin said, searchers reached one underground rescue chamber and found that it had not been used. The teams were ordered out after they encountered smoke at the entrance to four other rescue chambers, indicating a fire, he said.

The governor met with the families of the missing miners today and said they remain vigilant and understand the rescuers' safety needs.

"We had to walk in and explain to them we had a situation no one wanted," Manchin said. "It had to be dealt with, and decisions had to be made by federal and state employees. We know the situation is very grave."


On Thursday, four eight-member rescue teams finally entered the mine three days after the deadly explosion, but they had to abandon their search because of dangerous gases.

Residents said they weren't giving up hope that the missing men would be found alive.

"I hope they get out of there soon, for their friends and family," said Lockie Worrell, 37. "The whole town has been together praying for their safety."

The federal mine agency will investigate what caused the explosion, which is believed to have resulted from a buildup of methane.

The death toll of 25 is the highest in a U.S. mine since a 1984 fire killed 27 in Orangeville, Utah. Thirty-eight miners were killed in 1970 in Hyden, Ky.

Massey Energy Co., which owns the mine, has been cited for numerous safety violations, including two large fines in January for ventilation problems. On the day of the explosion, federal officials issued two citations -- for inadequate maps of escape routes and an improper splice of an electric cable. Federal officials said those violations had nothing to do with the explosion.

In December 2007, federal officials warned Massey that the mine could be cited for having a "pattern of violations," which would have meant far stricter safety oversight, but the operator escaped the stepped-up enforcement even though it continued to amass violations, The New York Times reported today.

Six months after the warning, the safety agency announced that the mine had instituted plans to fix the problems and had received fewer violations, the newspaper said. That enabled it to escape the added oversight, which would have allowed the federal government to close it down every time it found a significant violation, the Times said. After the violations went down, they more than doubled the following year, the newspaper said.

Massey CEO Don Blankenship has used social media sites such as Twitter.com to communicate about the disaster.

"Pray for the families and the rescue workers," he tweeted. "First thing that comes to mind is the dignity, compassion, understanding, and expressions of the miners' families."

Manchin said he plans to attend the funerals. A large memorial service will be held at some point to honor the men lost and their families, he said.

Social media Web sites also received condolences.

The MySpace page for 20-year-old Cory Davis has turned into a memorial, with his friends posting their memories and expressions of grief. Among them was his girlfriend, Emily Pritt, 20, of Dawes.

"I love you and I always will. I have no idea how I'm gonna make it through the rest of my life without you," she wrote. "Watch over me, baby. I'll do my best down here without you."