Painfull mistake...

[Omag 2.0]

This morning I heard about the miners that got stuck in a mine in the us. On the news they claimed that 1 person had passed away, while the 12 remaining workmen were ok and back to safety. The family of those people where relieved to hear the good news. However only 1 h later I heard the information was false, and it was the other way around. Only 1 guy was saved, the others have parished... Little communication-mistake by the rescue-team.... I can hardly imagine what a blow this must be for the relatives and friends of the 12 victims! It's plain cruel! In cases like this, the facts should always be double checked instead of taking rumours for the truth... once again, the media played a vicious role too...  :(

[H]

It's one of those things when I wish I could make some joke so everyone could smile --- but I can't. Worse than that, I was quite annoyed by one of the covering news programs that was playing the BeeGee's New York Mining Disaster in the background; crass!

[Hagar]

Oh dear. I heard on the radio this morning that they were all saved except one. I wish the news media would get their facts right before broadcasting incorrect information to the whole world.

[Woodlouse2002]

It's one of those things when I wish I could make some joke so everyone could smile ---

You think your jokes make people smile?

[Craig.]

Before I left for work this was all over the news how all but one were safe. What I read now is that the news was broken by a mine foreman over a telephone that they were alive. Now I dont blame the familys for getting their hopes up in that situation but it was never an official report from rescuers. And in my opinion having them celebrate in public and having the govenor annouce their safety on the word of a foreman was a huge crap up on the part of someone. As for the news channels, I would have expected more from some, and wouldn't have expected anything differant from others. I notice now its not being covered, can you say, egg on their face?

[Romulus111VADT]

The medias insatiable desire to "Scoop" everyone leads to erroneous reporting in newspapers as well as TV.


It seems they will never learn to get their facts straight before opening their mouths.

[BFMF]

A horrible disaster

[Fly2e]

The newspapers here read:::

"MINORS SAVED BY MIRACLE".

The spokesman for the mining company said that the reason was that the search team was 2 miles underground, they said they reached the minors. Somehow the translation back to the top was interpreted as we found the minors alive.
Scanners that were also being used by local thought they heard the same thing. The news spread like wildfire through out the town.

Most of the family members who were gathered in the church heard the news and rejoiced!!!
It was not until 3 HOURS LATER that the truth was told to them.
All dead except one, a 29 year old who is in critical condition....


Dave

[Craig.]

Apparently the officials incharge knew within 20 minutes the truth. But couldn't figure out how to tell them the truth.

[bbstackerf]

So tragic, so sad. Loss of life is always so tragic. Another story shortened by disaster.

keni

[jordonj]

Miners have always known that death is a possibility, and mining towns have lived with death for years.  Thinking logically, chances of survival were slim for these trapped souls given the CO and the lack of oxygen.

Still, this miscommunication goes beyond sad.  The turn of events goes beyond tragic.

[Romulus111VADT]

They say that mining is getting safer-

From 1880 to 1910, mine explosions and other accidents claimed thousands of victims. The deadliest year in U.S. coal mining history was 1907, when 3,242 deaths occurred. That year, America's worst mine explosion ever killed 358 people near Monongah, WV.

While metal and nonmetal (non-coal) mining was less deadly than coal mining, available records for the era show that it, too, was highly hazardous. Fires, explosions and cave-ins caused many deaths and injuries. One of the deadliest non-coal mining accidents involved a mine fire in Montana that killed 163 men in 1917.

With each passing decade, the annual number of mining deaths and the even more significant rates of injuries (measuring numbers of injuries against hours worked) have declined.

Fatalities and Injuries for All Mining (Coal & Noncoal)

Year Average Annual   Deaths Average--Annual Injuries
         
1936-1940                        1,546                        81,342
1941-1945                        1,592                        82,825
1946-1950                        1,054                        63,367
1951-1955                           690                        38,510
1956-1960                           550                        28,805
1961-1965                           449                        23,204
1966-1970                           426                        22,435
1971-1975                           322                        33,963
1976-1980                           254                        41,220
1981-1985                           174                        24,290
1986-1990                           122                        27,524
1991-1999                             93                        21,351

The death rate may be down, but the injury rate is still incredibly high. Mining is listed as one of the most dangerous jobs in the US by the U.S. Department of Labor.

[C]

Very tragic, first that a tiny misunderstanding caused so much suffering, and secondly that the "breaking news" press were all over it as only they can be...

[BFMF]

Apparently the officials incharge knew within 20 minutes the truth. But couldn't figure out how to tell them the truth.

With this information, they should never have let the media make the families believe their loved ones were ok. It would have been better to tell them the truth then to let them believe everything was ok before telling them the truth :-/

[C]

With this information, they should never have let the media make the families believe their loved ones were ok.

Unfortunately you can't always choose what the media hears, and with what (they think) is good news, people often react and will go looking to tell "the world", not giving officials time to collate and confirm the facts.