Nainitial Explosion News Today

Have. so the initial explosion -- there was a group of workers from the reports that we have that were nearby. and after the explosion, they were able to help those initial nine miners, seven were killed; two injured. so that was immediately after that. and then the five additional bodies that were found late this evening were said to be, according to state officials, between 1,000 and 2,000 feet away from the man trip. theyre believed to have been killed in nainitial explosion as well. >> reall...

There. also, we learned from state officials and federal officials last hour, there was a separate area, a stash, if you will, of self-contained self-rescuers, meaning emergency oxygen. the miners carry some with them. but then there is also this stash. and they said mine rescue teams did see indications that someone had gotten into that stash at some point, most likely after the explosion. >> goch a. those are the scsrs. i was listening to the press conference. >> reporter: the self-contained s...

>> 12 fatalities? >> thats correct. >> how many injured? >> there is two injured that have been taken to area hospitals. >> you earlier mentioned two work crews on the firewall? >> i do not know which once are deceased and which ones are unaccounted for. we just have a total number now. we havent started tying in to specific people yet. >> how about where -- >> we do not know that. i am sure the state will do a joint investigation, as well as the company after the fact. thats not something that ...

Conference in west virginia. heres hay portion of that news conference, recorded earlier from montcoal, west virginia. >> it appears like it was the initial blast. >> you are looking for 14 men? >> ummm... i dont have the numbers in front of me. i think its 10 men that we are looking for right now. >> you mentioned also the rescue chambers in the mine, what about the [inaudible]? >> it was partially installed. it was not installed on the section that indicated where the people had gone past that...

So the rescuers are hope that this men that are trapped are underground and have grabbed the scsrs. we dont know how many have been taken. but up to 20 or 25 are stored in the chambers. so hopefully, all the rescuers underground do have access to the scsrs and to the chambers. we will know more as the rescue crews are able to get to those individuals. they are saying it is not a recovery operation, it is a rescue operation. the chambers are equipped with oxygen in order to keep these folks under...

Actually will do an investigation. >> and that investigation will not start any time in the near term. and it will be extensive. it will take quite a while. >> just to recap, you were watching the press conference that took place an hour ago in west virginia, some of the officials that are there on the scene, trying to rescue some of these miners. were being told that there are 10 still trapped. there were 12. some type of explosion, we are told, maybe by methane gas. two were injured and transp...

Quality is actually getting better, which is good because that indicates that there is not still a fire burning underground. >> right. i know that they do have testers to detect methane and oxygen and carbon monoxide and various poisonous gases before they go in. we are told that this was sparked by methane gas. do you know anything more about the explosion itself? >> reporter: i have hearding hed nothing on the cause. >> do you remember at the beginning of the night or yesterday afternoon, we w...

Of one of the worst mining disasters in u.s. history. at this hour, the death toll stands at 12, all identified as miners, killed by an explosion. at least nine rescue teams are frantically searching for 10 other missing miners. the massey energy companys upper big branch is located in the rugged mountains of raleigh county, heres the map. its about 30 miles south of charleston, west virginia. the explosiona was about 3:00 p.m. eastern time, monday afternoon, believed to be caused by methane gas...

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