West Virginia Coal Miners

[THE COLONEL]

I stayed up pretty late last night to hear about all 12 being alive, only to find out this morning that 12 are dead out of the 13. Being we don't live all that far from the Quecreek accident a few years ago, I was intently watching the outcome of this and it does sadden me to hear this news. Lets all pray for the families that lost a loved one. I could not imagine such a tragic event as this with my own family.

[volk68]

I am absolutely stunned by the arrogance of this mining company.  I have never heard of such a thing as allowing it to be reported that all but one survived, when the reality was just the opposite.  How horrifying it must have been to the families of each of these minors to hear they were alive, only to be quickly told they were dead much later.  The CEO says he knew about the information being erroneous some 20 minutes after it was reported, but didn't tell the families to avoid puting them on an emotional rollercoaster, choosing instead to let them believe they were alive   The closest he came to an aplogy was to call it "simple miscommunication"...I hope they get sued into oblivion for that

[Ponch ®]

Man that's terrible for everyone involved.

Still, I didnt know what to think when I was watching the news and they interviewed one of the miner's wivers and she said "I can tell you right now...im gonna sue!".

[Charger_Fan]

American's are way too sue-happy. It was an accident! The miscommunication was not intentional, I'm sure...and money isn't gonna fix it. It's also not a good reason to sue, IMO.
The families should get some money for their loss, sure...from life insurance, but suing is rediculous. If they had no life insurance (can't imagine they wouldn't, considering how dangerous that work is), then the company should compensate the families, it's only fair.

Anyhoo, I feel bad for the miners who lost their lives. I couldn't imagine a much worse way to go.

[Blown70]

American's are way too sue-happy. It was an accident! The miscommunication was not intentional, I'm sure...and money isn't gonna fix it. It's also not a good reason to sue, IMO.
The families should get some money for their loss, sure...from life insurance, but suing is rediculous. If they had no life insurance (can't imagine they wouldn't, considering how dangerous that work is), then the company should compensate the families, it's only fair.

Anyhoo, I feel bad for the miners who lost their lives. I couldn't imagine a much worse way to go.

I agree I am TIRED of the sue happy america.  I feel very sorry for the MINERS and their families however most have life ins. I am sure.  NO ONE would be happy about the communication problem.

Tom

[Ponch ®]

American's are way too sue-happy. It was an accident! The miscommunication was not intentional, I'm sure...and money isn't gonna fix it. It's also not a good reason to sue, IMO.
The families should get some money for their loss, sure...from life insurance, but suing is rediculous. If they had no life insurance (can't imagine they wouldn't, considering how dangerous that work is), then the company should compensate the families, it's only fair.

Anyhoo, I feel bad for the miners who lost their lives. I couldn't imagine a much worse way to go.

what pissed me off is that this broad's husband is suffering a horrible death (if he wasnt already dead at that point) and all she's thinking about is getting paid.

I guess people grieve in different ways...

[Charger_Fan]

what pissed me off is that this broad's husband is suffering a horrible death (if he wasnt already dead at that point) and all she's thinking about is getting paid.

I guess people grieve in different ways...

That's pretty lame.

[Old Moparz]

It's a sad story, but how the hell do you justify suing someone because of mistaken good news that was actually bad news? The mining company probably won't apologize for anything because their lawyer said not to. An apology might be the equivalent to an actual wrongdoing, & you can't do that because you'll end up in court or a settlement.   

[viper r/t]

My dad is an ex-coalminer. He was back in the mountain and it started to collapse, fortunally he was close to the entrance, and he made it out with his co-workers, but on his way out of the mountain, he fell and screwed his back up for the rest of his life. The situation could have been way worse and I think if it would have been, suing somebody would be the last thing on my mind. Some people will just not give up on making a buck.

[4402tuff4u]

Very sad indeed! I went to bed with CNN stating that one miner was found dead and they were looking for the others. In the morning, I saw the paper in the driveway, big letters, "12 are alive". That really made me feel pretty good. When I got to work 25 min. later the guys at work were talking about the mistake. I really couldn't believe it!

You have to understand how angry these families must be. I think I would be beyond pissed and ready for a face to face explanation from the CEO of the mine of what exactly occurred. I also believe that these mother effing  lawyers "ambulance chasers" are already there passing business cards and ideas on how to get $$ out of the big mining company, possibly telling the distraught and vulnerable families "the only way to get back at these big companies that constantly step on you is to hit them on their pocket book so this does not happen again..". What would you do?? possibly the same.

It's a dangerous industry and accidents occur, both man made and natural mishaps too.

A total loss for everyone.

[89MOPAR]

The families should get some money for their loss, sure...from life insurance, but suing is rediculous. If they had no life insurance (can't imagine they wouldn't, considering how dangerous that work is), then the company should compensate the families, it's only fair.

The company would have to pay All the families, it's unrealistic to pay out only to the families who did not Invest in life - insurance.
That would be punishing those who did pay premiums for years.  If the insured families end up with twice as much money ,so be it, they planned ahead...

[bluesfool]

I was born in WV and my grandfather even used to work in a mine for a little while...fortunately he found other work. My heart definitely goes out to all the friends, coworkers, and families surrounding this tragedy. Although I do think the company has been negligent in some fashion, it is disheartening (to say the least) to see that it only took a matter of hours before lawyers arrived to scavenge around in order to get the families to file a lawsuit (yes, one of the lawyers present was defending the practice on national news).

[Brock Samson]

my Lawyer told me that since 9/11 most frivolous lawsuits are deep six-ed by jurors pretty quickly...

On my drive home at midnight last night pacific coast time NPR news was saying only one miner died,.. and we went with a headline that said "MIRACLE!" in two inch letters.

& i just got a call from an irate reader asking why we in the "liberal media" don't fact check anymore before running stories.

[TeeWJay426]

If they sue for anything, it should be for having the miners working when there were numerous documented safety violations. I wouldn't think that 'miscommunication' would be grounds for a big payoff, but then again, I'm smart enough not to put a scalding hot cup of coffee in my lap as well.....

On that note, my prayers and sympathy go out to the miners and their survivors. It's still a tragedy, no matter who you choose to point fingers at... RIP, guys.

[hemihead]

My heart and prayers go out to the miners and their loved ones.Being from SwPa I have know coal miners all my life and know of the hard work and risks they take.The company having 208 safety violations and not being shut down amazes me.Looks like the blue collar people suffer again while the white  collar guys go home and worry about their bonuses,portfolios, and where to vacation this year.

[Charger_Fan]

The families should get some money for their loss, sure...from life insurance, but suing is rediculous. If they had no life insurance (can't imagine they wouldn't, considering how dangerous that work is), then the company should compensate the families, it's only fair.

The company would have to pay All the families, it's unrealistic to pay out only to the families who did not Invest in life - insurance.
That would be punishing those who did pay premiums for years.   If the insured families end up with twice as much money ,so be it, they planned ahead...

You're absolutely right, I didn't really think before I blathered that out.

I hadn't heard they had 208 safety violations...sounds like it was only a matter of time before something bad happened. Sad deal.

[4402tuff4u]

One thing that has me puzzled is how can a lightning ignite methane and charcoal dust 2.5 miles away from the entrance of the mine and approx. 260 feet deep from the surface above. Maybe some of the members here that have family members that are miners can shed some light on this phenomenon. I would think from my basic and fundamental knowledge I have about electricity that once a positive charge lightning hits the earth (negative), the charge dissipates pretty rapidly and over a large wide area. If anything, I would think static electricity would be more likely to set a spark to cause the accident. Anyone know the theory behind this? Does lightning travel underground for long distances? I know it does in water, but solid earth? Could it have traveled down in a water crack or something?

[yellowcuda]

This was one of the saddest things I have seen in a while.  I cried and cried with them.  They had so much happiness and joy when the church bells were ringing and then to be told it was a mistake.

Don't take anyone you love for granted.  Tell them you love them today and everyday.

[THE COLONEL]

Don't take anyone you love for granted.   Tell them you love them today and everyday.

It is sad that sometimes it takes events like this to realize what you just said.

[dkn1997]

our local paper led with the headline "miracle in the mine" 

enough with the finger pointing already. how about grieving a bit before everyone runs off at the mouth about the safety violations and threatening law suits.  bury the dead, celebrate their lives.  there will be plenty of time to find a scapegoat later.

[Highbanked Hauler]

our local paper led with the headline "miracle in the mine"  

enough with the finger pointing already. how about grieving a bit before everyone runs off at the mouth about the safety violations and threatening law suits.   bury the dead, celebrate their lives.   there will be plenty of time to find a scapegoat later.

                                     

[ck1]

this story really upset me but I just read on yahoo news that they left some notes to there loved ones which put my mind at eases about there deaths

[last426]

our local paper led with the headline "miracle in the mine"  

The horrible result sort of does away with the notion that there is a god or that there are miracles.  And make no mistake about my comment -- that is a very sad thing.  Kim

[adauto]

$hitty way to die, hope it dont happen to you! GOD BLESS THEM

[Afflyer]

I saw a picture of one of the notes left by one of the miners on Foxnews.com.   Really made me gasp in horror when I read the small sentence; "All I want to do is fall asleep."   Kind of creepy in a wee way.

Still, we all should pray for the families, though it would be hard to pray for that one woman who grieved in such a way that all she wanted was her deceased husband's paycheck and death bennies.     

Bradley