West Virginia Miners Found Dead

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WEST VIRGINIA (GaeaTimes.com)- It has been reported by the authorities, with extreme sadness, that the bodies of the four miners who were being searched for in the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia have been found. This discovery brings an end to search that was being conducted in the mine for the last four days, since the blast had occurred on Monday. Although authorities were pretty certain that there was negligible chance of discovering the four West Virginia miners alive after so long, given the presence of the extremely noxious gases in the mine, they kept on searching in the hope that the miners might have been able to reach the airtight chambers.

Had the West Virginia miners managed to make their way to the airtight chambers, they might have survived despite extremely adverse condition, as these chambers are loaded with enough food, water and oxygen to last 15 miners for four days at least. However, it was obvious that they had not been able to. In fact, the authorities were losing hope much earlier, when they could find no one in the two chambers they were able to reach.

The search party was not able to reach into the two other chambers as there was a major accumulation of toxic gases in the area. Later on, nitrogen was pumped inside the mine, which made the gases inert. The search party then went in with oxygen masks. The families of the four West Virginia miners were informed first, and then the news was given to the press. The Governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin, has expressed his condolences to the bereaved.