Chrystine Neal hugs her brother Danny after their uncle Jerry Groves was found alive with 11 other miners in Sago, West Virginia, January 3, 2006 (Reuters).
For about three hours, this was thought to be the joyous ending of the saga of the trapped West Virginia miners.
Singing erupts after miners found alive
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (AP)- Family and friends clapped early Wednesday as a single ambulance drove away from the Sago mine, presumably with one of 12 miners rescued after two days underground in the back.
"It just shows you enough prayers went out," Bula Smith, 27, said as she clutched her 7-month-old daughter, Cassey, close to her. "It's a miracle."
The bell atop the Sago Baptist Church peeled out shortly before midnight as word rushed up the hollow that 12 of the 13 miners had been found alive after being trapped more than two miles into the mountain and 260 feet below ground for 41 hours.
The crowd gathered outside the church burst into a chorus of "How Great Thou Art" as family and friends threw themselves into each other's arms.
After the news of the rescue broke, Smith, who knows one of the miners, wrote a lengthy poem in her car that began:
"As one fallen hero,
"Is walking through Heaven's gate,
"Twelve miracles walk from work,
"Forty hours late.
"Many believed they were gone,
"But our prayers held strong ..."
State troopers and yellow police tape kept reporters away from the scene. Families and friends had waited overnight in a muddy field and at the church for any type of news. Some camped out in tents; others sheltered themselves from cold rain with donated blankets.
Even after word came that most of the miners were safe, there was more waiting.
Eight ambulances filed toward the mine entrance across the Tygart Valley River early Wednesday. Conditions on the miners weren't yet known, but officials said there were extremely high levels of carbon monoxide inside the mine.
"It's hard waiting," said Tambra Flint, whose 26-year-old son Randal McCloy was trapped. Flint stayed at the mine overnight, making her way to the closest entrance and staring into the blackness.
Nick Helms, a golfer who lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C., said his father Terry, was among the trapped miners.
"My father and every person who goes into that mine knows what they're doing. I'm sure they found a way to stay safe," he said.
"I just want to see him again," he said.
Minutes ago, that report became a dream.
Here's the nightmare:
Eleven of Twelve Missing Coal Miners Believed to Be Alive Found Dead
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — Family members learned early Wednesday that 11 of the 12 coal miners who were initially thought to have survived an explosion in a coal mine have died.
Families learned of the deaths from mine officials more than three hours after Gov. Joe Manchin said he had been told 12 of the miners survived the disaster. The sole survivor of the disaster was hospitalized, a doctor said.
International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield told the families that only one miner, Randal McCloy, had survived the explosion.
Hatfield told the families gathered at the Sago Baptist Church that "there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived," said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.
At that point, chaos broke out in the church and a fight started.
What a horrible, heartbreaking twist!
My prayers have been with the families of the miners since the story first broke and they remain with them.
The families' fears turned to rejoicing, and then the jubilation turned to sorrow.
Positively gut-wrenching.
God be with them.
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