Ben Hatfield
Ben Hatfield
The Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006, at the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia, United States, near the Upshur County seat of Buckhannon. The blast and collapse trapped 13 miners for nearly two days; only one survived. It was the worst mining disaster in the United States since the Jim Walter Resources Mine Disaster in Alabama on September 23, 2001, and the worst disaster in West Virginia since the 1968 Farmington Mine Disaster...
clearly miracles situation
We are clearly in the situation where we need a miracle. But miracles happen.
command information spread
That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center.
possible survivors
No survivors were spotted. It's possible they are barricaded in another area.
damage equipment evidence explosion survivors
No barricades or survivors were seen, but there was also no evidence of substantial explosion damage to the installed equipment that was in view.
location
They could be in another location or they could be barricaded somewhere.
add communication fact last night problems terrible
It is unfortunate and we are saddened by the fact that the communication problems we experienced last night only add to the terrible tragedy.
believe determined fewer forward hard industry less men move pace people quicker talented
We determined we could move forward at a quicker pace by rehabilitating fewer entries and doing less construction on the way in. I believe we have the smartest, most talented people in the industry working as hard as they can to get the men out safely.
confirmed determined hospital local medical miners remaining rescue rushed serious structure survivor team
The only confirmed survivor is Randall McCloy, who has now been rushed to a local hospital in serious condition. The 11 remaining miners in the barricade structure were determined by the medical technicians on the rescue team to have already deceased.
We had no idea what they were being told.
allowed good information longer process trying
We were trying to get them good information and in the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have.
company interest involved mine operated time year
We have no interest in getting into finger-pointing of what went on a year ago. This is a mine that operated for some significant time before my company was involved with it.
believed communication factual rightly second statements suspicious
We were just as suspicious of the second communication as the first. We didn't know what to think. Rightly or wrongly, we believed it was important to make factual statements to the family.
believe benefit productive saying
We didn't believe there was any productive benefit of saying there could be one (victim), there could be 12. We have conflicting information.
finger history interest violation
We're not going to get into the violation history or finger pointing. That's in no one's interest at this point.