Chinese Style Mine Safety Here in America as Well

latimes.com

West Virginia coal mine rescue crews race against time

Attempts to contact 4 missing miners prove fruitless. Workers drill a new ventilation hole at site where 25 men were killed Monday; governor says there's only 'a sliver of hope' of finding survivors.

By Kim Geiger and Bob Drogin, reporting from Washington and Montcoal, W. Va.

Officials said the explosion occurred at 3:02 p.m. Monday as 31 miners were coming off the day shift. The blast knocked out lights, communications and ventilation fans, and created a windstorm that roared up shafts to the surface, shooting rocks, dirt and debris into the air.

. . . The cause of the explosion is undetermined, although the mine owner, Massey Energy Co., has come under increasing fire for a spotty record of safety operations at Upper Big Branch, including 10 citations this year for inadequate ventilation of explosive gases.

Several members of Congress vowed to hold hearings into the disaster and seek tougher mine safety rules.

"Clearly we m…