Whoops! They Are Dead, After All

[MrsTrellisfromNorthWales]

Families had been told that 12 miners were still alive this morning. Great joy. Bells rang. It's a miracle etc. But in fact someone miscounted. It should have been one, not 12.

 

Any old how. The following is from Sky News.

 

Ben Hatfield, president of the International Coal Group, said the initial report was a mistake.

 

"There was a miscommunication," he said.

 

Mr Hatfield looked distraught as he gave the news to reporters. "Welcome to the worst day of my life," he said.

 

Thanks for that, Mr Hatfield. Yes, this is all about you.

[Alex]

Some relatives are already promising to sue the company.

Typical, don't even wait 'til they're cold.

 

link

[Speckled Frost]

Rescuer: "Doesn't look like they're alive."

 

Company PR bloke: "What was that, a dozen alive. Fantastic, I'll tell all the families right away."

 

Idiots

[Lonan3]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4579754.stm

 

Families of 11 US miners found dead have expressed anger and disbelief at communications failings which led them to believe their loved ones were alive.

Relatives were celebrating a "miracle" before they were told only one of the 12 West Virginia miners had survived. A 13th miner was found dead earlier.

 

"There was no apology. There was no nothing," said Nick Helms, son of dead miner Terry Helms.

 

Families had been celebrating news of their menfolk's survival inside a local church near the Sago Mine, in central West Virginia, for nearly three hours before they were told the truth.

 

Those families must have been totally devastated!

[cheesemonster2005]

"There was no apology. There was no nothing," said Nick Helms, son of dead miner Terry Helms.

 

Families had been celebrating news of their menfolk's survival inside a local church near the Sago Mine, in central West Virginia, for nearly three hours before they were told the truth. [/i]

 

Those families must have been totally devastated!

 

And when the families were finally informed in the church where they were celebrating their relatives' survival the local state made sure they had SWAT teams on standby incase the families attacked the bearer of bad news - which they tried to. Americans are great at sensitivity!

[SugarBee]

The families and friends of the miners were all incredibly anxious, upset and overwhelmed.

 

How would you react if you were told your loved one survived and then danced in jubilation and then be told it 3 hours later that you were misinformed?

 

Once again, don't always believe what you hear...

[Amadeus]

And when the families were finally informed in the church where they were celebrating their relatives' survival the local state made sure they had SWAT teams on standby incase the families attacked the bearer of bad news - which they tried to. Americans are great at sensitivity!

That's gotta be the worst thing that can possibly happen to anyone - first, you're anxious and concerned, then you're being given reason to celebrate and feel utter joy in believing that your loved ones are still alive - and shortly afterwards you're told it was just a case of "miscommunication", and your husband/father/son is actually dead...

 

I can totally understand anyone who would turn his or her grief into anger at that point - no matter who is to blame or where it happened...and it has nothing to do with Americans and sensitivity.

 

I'm not a big fan of America in general, but I feel truly sorry for what these people must have gone through...

[thebees]

Don't wish to sound heartless. If my husband was a miner I would be most worried all the time, its not a totally safe job, they know the risks basically. I can believe they are yelling sue already, like money makes it better? Tis a very sad occurance none the less. Glad it wasn't in Britain...oh ho ho but we dont have any mines any more. Nor maufacturers....plenty of financial services though..

[Lonan3]

Of interest, perhaps?

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...cs/13568509.htm

 

Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed, a Knight Ridder Newspapers investigation has found.

At one point last year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration fined a coal company a scant $440 for a "significant and substantial" violation that ended in the death of a Kentucky man. The firm, International Coal Group Inc., is the same company that owns the Sago mine in West Virginia, where 12 workers died earlier this week.

The $440 fine remains unpaid.

Relaxed mine safety enforcement is widespread, according to a Knight Ridder analysis of federal records and interviews with former and current federal safety officials, even though deaths and injuries from mining accidents have hovered near record low levels in the past few years.

The analysis shows:

_The number of major fines over $10,000 has dropped by nearly 10 percent since 2001. The dollar amount of those penalties, when adjusted for inflation, has plummeted 43 percent to a median of $27,584.

_Less than half of the fines levied between 2001 and 2003 - about $3 million - have been paid.

_The budget and staff for the enforcement office also have declined, forcing the agency to make do with about 100 fewer coal mine enforcement personnel.

_In serious criminal cases, the number of guilty pleas and convictions fell 54.8 percent since 2001. In the first four years of the Bush administration, the federal government has averaged 3.5 criminal convictions a year; in the four years before that the average was 7.75 per year.