Footprints inside the Sago Mine in West Virginia indicate the trapped miners tried to use a mechanised mine car to force their way out after the explosion, family members of the sole survivor said.

SOME of the 12 coal miners who died following an explosion in West Virginia left notes behind assuring family members their final hours trapped underground were not spent in agony, a relative said yesterday.

Some of the 12 coal miners who died following an explosion in West Virginia left notes behind assuring family members that their final hours trapped underground were not spent in agony, a relative said today.