We were rejoicing...

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.

After being told the truth, some inside the church reportedly became violent and physically confronted mine officials. State Police had to wrestle men to the ground to subdue them. Additional law enforcement was eventually called to the scene to control potential conflicts.

Some family expressed frustration and anger over the miscommunication.

“Mixed communications is what they’re blaming it on,” Anne Merideth said, expressing disbelief. Ms Merideth, who is from Maysfield, lost her father, Jim Bennett, 61. He had planned on retiring in April.

She said she wants the public to know about Sago Mine, owned by International Coal Group. “It’s unsafe,” she told reporters. “It’s unfit. We were in there praising God. We were rejoicing. They lied. They lied.”

Angry family members said they had been lied to by company officials and said mining officials offered no explanation for the foul-up. “They said they were sorry,” said Sam Lantz, whose brother-in-law, Marty Bennett, was among the miners.

Mr Lantz said mining company officials came into the Sago Baptist Church, where family members were celebrating what they thought was a miracle and told them: “We didn’t have the good news we thought we had earlier.”

Nick Helms, 25, of Myrtle Beach, who lost his father, Terry Helms, 50, said a mine foreman told the loved ones at the church the 12 were alive, as he and his family were coming to grips with the possibility the first miner found dead was Terry Helms.

Lewis County resident Anna Casto, who said she had a cousin who died in the mine, said Manchin initially told her and others he “got it from a good source” that all 12 were alive.

Ms Casto also said Ben Hatfield, president and CEO of International Coal Group, told loved ones they were going to bring all the miners but one who was injured directly up to the church to reunite with them. Mr Hatfield said he did not immediately tell loved ones the truth while they sang and celebrated because he “did not want to put families through another rollercoaster.”

Mr Hatfield also said he initially believed the news.

Mr Manchin expressed remorse about the error.

While the loved ones celebrated up the muddy road at the church, Mr Manchin’s press secretary, Tom Hunter, refused to confirm for the press that all 12 were found alive.

They lied, they lied...

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

The scene unfolded inside the Sago Baptist Church, three hours after the family members had been told that 12 of the miners had survived.

For two days, the church had been the place where family members waited anxiously for news.

Nick Helms, son of victim Terry Helms, said several family members had to wrestle one distraught man to the ground inside the church to keep him from hurting the coal company officials who were the bearers of the news.

“They were trying to get them. They were doing everything they could to get these guys,” he said.

The tragic announcement marked the end of a 41-hour wait after the explosion at the Sago Mine on Monday morning that trapped 13 miners. Virtually everyone in the tight- knit Upshur County community was related to, or friends with, one or more of the trapped miners.

Wives, sons, daughters and friends of miners comforted one another and turned to prayer as time ticked by without any sign of life down below.

Between briefings by coal company officials, they sang religious songs. Some sat inside the church, while others waited outside on lawn chairs, wrapped in blankets. The prospects of saving the miners dimmed as the hours went by.

After the announcement on Tuesday evening that one body had been found, there was still hope for the remaining 12 miners.

Then, a seeming miracle. Shortly before midnight, word rushed up the hollow that 12 miners had been found alive. Family and friends clapped in the early morning chill as a single ambulance drove away, presumably with one of the miners safely in the back.

“It just shows you enough prayers went out,” said Bula Smith, 27, as she clutched her seven-month- old daughter, Cassey, close to her. “It’s a miracle.”

The crowd gathered outside the church burst into a chorus of How Great Thou Art as family and friends threw themselves into each other’s arms.

Their euphoria was short-lived. When the townspeople learned that all but one of the miners were dead, they reacted with anger at mine-owner International Coal Group and the news media for the miscommunication. Most left quietly afterwards. After 41 hours of sharing hopes and prayers, they chose solitude for their grief.