Company expresses regret to families

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.

“In the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have,” said Ben Hatfield, chief executive of mine-owner International Coal Group (ICG).

Mr Hatfield said the initial mistake resulted from a miscommunication among the rescue crews.