Miners left farewell notes

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.

“The notes said they weren’t suffering, they were just going to sleep,” said Peggy Cohen, who had been called to a makeshift morgue at a school to identify the body of her father, 59-year-old mining machine operator Fred Ware.

Ms Cohen said a note was not left with Mr Ware’s body, but that she planned to retrieve his personal belongings later to see if he left one in his lunch box.