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.

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 believe the officials likely knew of the miners’ fates some time before then - maybe as soon as 20 minutes after the celebration began.

Family members of victims in a fatal mining accident became enraged and lunged at a coal company official after being told today that only one of 13 miners had survived a mine explosion, witnesses said.