11 of 12 US miners reported alive have died

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.

Families learned of the deaths from mine officials more than three hours after Governor Joe Manchin said he had been told 12 of the West Virginia miners survived the disaster. The sole survivor of the disaster was in hospital, a doctor said.

International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield told the families that only one miner, Randal McCloy, had survived the explosion.

Hatfield told the families gathered at the Sago Baptist Church that “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.

At that point, chaos broke out in the church and a fight started.

Hatfield said the information spread quickly when people overheard mobile phone calls.

In reality, rescuers had confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs, he said.

“That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command centre,” he said at a news conference.

Hatfield said the company waited to correct the information until it knew more about the rescue.