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Mine Tragedy Victims Remembered

Family and friends of 12 men killed in a coal mine explosion in West Virginia began saying goodbye to their loved ones this last Saturday. The first visitations for the victims of the Sago Mine tragedy were scheduled for Saturday, and six funerals were expected to take place yesterday. Meantime, an eight-person team of investigators has been appointed to look the blast of a week-ago Monday.

The lone survivor, 26-year-old Randal McCloy, remains critically ill in a medically induced coma at a Pittsburgh, Penn. hospital. Doctors say McCloy has brain damage from severe oxygen deprivation from time spent stuck 10,000 feet below the earth. McCloy is struggling to breathe with the aid of a ventilator and is also undergoing dialysis for his damaged kidneys. In hopes of jogging McCloy back to consciousness, his wife, Anna, said she planned to play the music of one his favorite bands, Metallica.

Among the theories being investigated for the cause of the tragedy is the possibility that lightning ignited naturally occurring methane gas or coal dust. Apparently, the mine itself had received dangerous marks and ratings in the recent past. Some of the most serious citations against the mine in 2005 were for the mine`s inefficient plan to control methane levels and monitor the breathable dust level.