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Into the mountains, as the coal gets thinner and thinner, you're seeing a lot of accidents and tragedies, similar kinds of operations in a similar region. the simple fact is coal is declining in west virginia. the stuff they are going after now is deeper and more difficult to get at. >> that's a really interesting point, jeff. they do believe these four missing miners are perhaps 1100 feet deep. they say it's going to take them at least 12 hours to get that core drill essentially going through different layers, through 1100 feet just so they can ventilate that methane gas before they can get a...

Don't follow all the safety precautions very precisely, you're going to have situations like this. >> in fact, jeff, everyone i've been reading that in fact mining has gotten safer over the last couple of years. a low number of fatalities. this now with this one event has killed 25 people. it's the worst in over two decades. do you think there's going to be a lot of questions about the fact this was, as you said, a gassy mine and whether they were following all the procedures that congress has now mandated since the sago disaster? >> yeah. there's going to be a lot of questions raised after th...

And two grandsons in this mine accident. i met a woman who i don't know how old she was, but she looked about 20 years old. she was carrying around a picture of her fiance. they were going to get married in a couple of weeks. he died in the accident. then of course you mentioned the family, the 62-year-old who mined for 30 years. he was going to retire in five weeks. he was planning on going on a cruise and take his wife to the virgin islands. these are heartbreaking stories about these people and certainly their lost loved ones. i think the second part of this story is going to be about minin...

Controversy and action in the last few years. he's sort of shameless about it. he's the last of the old-fashioned characters who really doesn't see any future for west virginia beyond coal. >> all right, jeff goodell, great to talk to you. brilliant reporting. this really is a fascinating story about not only this company but the lives of people who live here and center this whole community. we're in the heart of west virginia, we don't even have cell service here of we're out in the middle of nowhere. many people here, this is their life mining. that's why an accident like this definite state...

>> and now apparently that state supreme court justice is now running against congressman rayhill who represents this very district. so the congressman is not very friendly with the ceo of massey energy. it's an interesting subplot in this whole story. hampton pearson as always, good to talk to you. >> reporter: good to talk to you, norah. >> for more on this let's bring in jeff goodel. do you believe the mine was safe? >> it's impossible to know until we have a full investigation of what's going on. i've been to this region, know this region pretty well. i've never been in this mine. i was re...