Text of Sago Mine survivor's letter

[kpete]

Text of Sago Mine survivor's letter

Thursday, April 27, 2006; Posted: 1:11 p.m. EDT (17:11 GMT)
BUCKHANNON, West Virginia (AP)

-- The following are excerpts of a letter sent to victims' families this week by Randal McCloy Jr., the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster.

The letter mentions several mining terms: a "man-trip" is a vehicle that transports miners, a "rescuer" is an emergency air pack, and a "coal rib" is a mine wall.

To the families and loved ones of my co-workers, victims of the Sago Mine disaster:

The explosion happened soon after the day shift arrived at the mine face on January 2, right after we got out of the man-trip. I do not recall whether I had started work, nor do I have any memory of the blast. I do remember that the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke, and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable.

The first thing we did was activate our rescuers, as we had been trained. At least four of the rescuers did not function. I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Junior Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around.

We then tried to return to the man-trip, yelling to communicate through the thick smoke. The air was so bad that we had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet.

more at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/27/mine.explosion.ap/index.html


Congress -- Get Serious About Mining Safety
Contributed by Working Assets

The January 2nd, 2006 disaster at the Sago mine in West Virginia has pointed once again to the need for strong government oversight and regulation of worker protection and safety in hazardous occupations such as coal mining. Recent news reports indicate that several of the trapped miners' emergency air packs did not function as they should have. The Clinton administration had launched initiatives specifically to improve oversight and inspection of these air packs, but those initiatives were abandoned when the Bush administration came into office.
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=20253&afccode=kos

[Poll_Blind]

1. I am so, SO very pleased that this man made such an amazing recovery.

I wrote this guy off for dead or brain-dead a long time ago. In a world filled with dreary news it's a real treat to hear about someone living through such dire straights.

PB