Mine Explosion in West Virginia

Mine Explosion in West VirginiaAs a result of an explosion at a mine in West Virginia (USA), according to updated data, 12 miners were killed, 20 wounded and 10 were reported missing. 3 of the injured miners are placed in a hospital. According to representatives of local authorities, the explosion occurred in the afternoon of April 5 in an underground mine.

The search for the missing continues. At the place of the accident, 5 rescue teams, 20 ambulance crews and 3 helicopters work. “Everything possible is being done to save the lives of people under hollows,” said the representative of Massey Energy, the owner of the mine.

The mine, where the explosion occurred, is located about 50 km south of Charleston city. At the mine, safety measures were not properly followed, according to representatives of the The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Inspectors more than once found an increased concentration of methane there.

Massey Energy representatives assure that the mine met all safety standards. In addition, there are oxygen reserves underground that will allow the surviving miners to hold out in a blocked area until the rescuers arrive.

This is not the first accident at US coal mines in the past few years. So, in 2006, 12 miners died during an explosion at a mine in Sago Mine in West Virginia. 6 more miners died under the hollows in Utah in 2007.

The largest number of miners in the United States over the past 100 years has died in 1907. Then, for various reasons, 3242 people died. In the same year, the most terrible mine explosion in the history of the American coal industry occurred, when 358 miners were died immediately in West Virginia.

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Tags: explosion, USA, West Virginia