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.

The lone survivor of a US coal mine explosion that killed 12 showed some encouraging signs overnight, but had not woken and was in a coma, doctors said today.

With their escape routes blocked by heavy smoke, most of the 13 miners caught in an explosion did what they were trained to do.

JOY gave way to grief and anger yesterday when a West Virginia coal town learned that 12 of 13 miners trapped in a mine explosion had died.

A TOP coal company official expressed regret last night that the families of the 12 dead miners were mistakenly led to believe for three hours that their loved ones were alive.

Family members learned early today that 11 of the 12 coal miners who were initially thought to have survived an explosion in a US coal mine have died.