WV Miners Saga

For those of you who are keeping up with the news, the 12 remaining miners survived (with one casualty). It is a miracle.

it made the news here too.

its a miracle!!!

(maybe)

damn lucky to be alive.

i just heard that perhaps only one of them may actually still be alive.

fuckinell!!! As i left for work this morning, there were scenes of joy on the news because all miners seemed to be safe. just been on the Beeb, and now its says that only person has survived out of 12.

...What the hell is happening?

NPR says only one survived. Blames "miscommunication." Very, very sad.. I was also pondering the possibility that if only one died how the family of that one would feel seeing the others alive.

the wonder of instant mass media eh?

When I went to bed last night, they were just breaking with news that the 12 had made it out. To wake up to the news that, no, 12 died, is pretty damn tough. My heart goes out to the families who not only had to learn about their loved ones dying, but after having been told they were alive.

It's a fuckin tragedy, no way around it.

sad, indeed.

after reading 'germinal' there's no way in hell you'd get me into a mine. they're some pretty tough folks.

AgentWood wrote: sad, indeed.

after reading 'germinal' there's no way in hell you'd get me into a mine. they're some pretty tough folks.

my sister's ex-fella worked as a vertical miner in Hong Kong until he fell down the mine shaft - breaking virtually everything. The pay out for him was mega. but he's fucked and can't do that type of work again.

What is really disgusting is how television is already planning a tv movie about it all. For crying out loud, let people be!

hennasarai wrote: What is really disgusting is how television is already planning a tv movie about it all. For crying out loud, let people be!

@ cliche response

Steve Campbell wrote: the wonder of instant mass media eh?

more like whisper down the lane.

Someone at the site overheard someone talking to a rescue worker on a cell phone. They said that they had found 12 people and are checking vital signs.

People took that to mean that they were alive (WHAT??), and the rumor mill spread. As it does. Then the mass media etc picked up on it.

It wasn't until 3 hours later that they got official word that only one person survived.

that's my point...every moronic rumour is beamed round the world as fact.

And feeling sick at corpse feeding american media types is not cliche....any more than it's "out of fashion" to mourn the dead or fall in love.

Depressing news to wake up to today, to be sure, especially after hearing around 10 pm Pacific that were alive (it was on CNN). :(

Both the NY and LA Times reported the same thing in their e-mail editions (got both about 12:10 AM Pacific). Got a retraction from the LA paper at 1:00 AM Pacific).

God, I started this thread, and became a sucker to an undescribable rumor.

Our hearts and prayers go to all affected in this unexpected tragedy.

Actually, the sad thing is, we all became suckers to such a rumor.

cozmonite61 wrote: Actually, the sad thing is, we all became suckers to such a rumor.

On the other hand, if the news media hadn't camped out in this little WV town, the thing could have gone down with no attention or scrutiny of the mining companies and their policies (which could have contributed to the magnitude of this tragedy). How many mining disasters go by without little comment, and no one ever stops to wonder if there's ways to ensure it doesn't happen again?

So yeah, the news media got suckered into believing "the miracle at the mine" story, but we're having a serious discussion about who is at fault. That's a fitting legacy to the men who lost their lives (and may very well not have had to, if there were shortcuts taken or the mining company didn't do all that it could to ensure the safety of their conditions)

the problem with 24-hour news channels: when there's no news to report, there's always incorrect news to report.

the age of instant communictations, what a wonderful time we live in. somehow 12 dead miners in the us are far more interesting than 500 dead ones in China, or other human tragedies araound the globe.