"TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (CNN) -- Joy turned to sorrow in three short hours Wednesday for relatives of a dozen men found dead in a West Virginia coal mine. "Miscommunication" spawned early reports of their survival.
Just before midnight, miners' families thought the men were alive after 41 hours of entrapment. An ambulance rushed one miner to a hospital in critical condition as church bells rang in celebration.
By 3 a.m. mine company chief Ben Hatfield announced that 12 of the 13 were dead.
There had been a tragic "miscommunication," Hatfield said. (Watch relatives weep over 'a miracle taken away' -- 3:21)
Hatfield's announcement sent Anna Casto, who lost her cousin, into a tirade.
"No, he strictly told us they was alive," Casto said. "Three hours later he come back and said they wasn't."
"We want to know why, and how people can get by with this," she said. (Full story)
Casto said the tragedy has shaken the faith of some in the community. "We have got some of us ... saying... that we don't even know if there is a Lord anymore," she said. "We had a miracle, and it was taken away from us."
Three hours of joy
11:53 p.m. -- Church bells ring as reports first indicate that 12 miners have been found alive.
2:14 a.m. -- A man is rescued and taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition after being trapped underground since Monday morning. (Watch a friend recount waiting on the porch for hugs -- 7:23)
2:44 a.m. -- Miners' relatives say they had been told all but one of the miners were dead.
3:11 a.m. -- Hatfield, president and CEO of International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine, announces that despite previous reports, only one survivor was found in the mine. (Timeline)
Hatfield called it the "worst day of my life."
Taken from
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/04/mine.explosion.wed/index.html
When i went to bed watching the news last night they were saying 12 miners were alive and one was dead. I woke up this morning and its reversed, 12 dead and one alive. That is so fcked up to get the families hopes up. I cant believe they would fck up so bad...i bet someone is fired.