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...
drill received steel
We pounded on the drill steel and received no response. We'll do same.
believe defending focus mine people
Our focus is not on defending records, our focus is on getting people out of there and that's all we want to focus on at this point. We believe the mine was safe.
crew drill heard minute period process repeated several
They repeated this process several times over a 10 minute period but the drill crew heard no response.
forward moving performing rescue robot teams
The rescue teams are moving forward at an accelerated pace. They're moving faster, performing better than the robot was.
accident cause circumstance federal mine state terrible thorough undertaken
A thorough investigation of the cause and circumstances of this terrible accident will be undertaken by federal and state mine regulatory officials.
believe felt heard heavy miners percussion skilled system
They felt the percussion and heard the noise. We believe they probably encountered heavy smoke, and the ventilation system was obstructed. They then did what skilled miners do.
again certainly hearts hoped outcome prayed prayers
This is certainly not the outcome that we had hoped for and prayed for. So again our hearts and prayers go out to the families.
family good looking people share
They were looking desperately for good information. These are friends, family of the people that are trapped. There was desperation for good information. They wanted to share it.
rules
In the jubilation of the moment, the rules didn't hold.
best care certainly draw employees level meeting paid weekend
In the interim, certainly this week, they are being paid and we're meeting with the employees over the weekend to draw up longer-term plans. We're going to do our very level best to take care of our people.
certainly hopes stretched thin
Hopes certainly are stretched thin at this point.
clinging command people
The families, much like the people working in the command center, are clinging to every hope.
concern foremost people process risk throughout until
The foremost concern throughout this process has been that there are so many things we don't know about what went wrong. We don't want to put any more people at risk until we know answers.
difficult quarter
The first quarter was difficult emotionally for us and challenging from an operational standpoint.