Coal miners caught in blast trying to save others

BROOKWOOD, Ala. -- Ten coal miners are being hailed as heroes for rushing into a mine to rescue co-workers injured by an explosion, only to be killed themselves by a second blast.

The death toll was confirmed at 13 on Tuesday, making Sunday's disaster the nation's worst mining accident since Dec. 19, 1984, when fire killed 27 coal miners near Orange-ville, Utah.

Search teams were at the mine Tuesday, but because of fires more than 2,000 feet beneath the surface and high levels of explosive methane gas in some tunnels, they could not look for the bodies of the remaining miners.

"I wish I could tell you rescue teams were in and everything was wonderful," mine spokesman Dennis Hall said Tuesday. "They are just here on standby."

The miners who were lost after going in after their co-workers were praised for their selflessness, drawing comparisons to the rescue workers killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

"These men gave their lives to help others, just as the firefighters and police of New York did nearly two weeks ago," said Don DeFosset, chief executive of Walter Industries, which owns the mine and its operator, Jim Walter Resources Inc.

One of the would-be rescuers died of burns at a hospital Monday, and the other nine were confirmed dead Tuesday by the company. The three miners they were trying to help also died in the mine.

"It takes a special hero to give up his life to save another," said Gov. Don Siegelman. "We've seen over the past few weeks that our country is full of those heroes, and Alabama is no exception."

The company said rocks loosened in a roof collapse hit a large battery charger, causing sparks that set off the first explosion. The cause of the second explosion was under investigation.

The first blast hit miners with a storm of loose rock and debris.

"I had just gotten a drink of water and walked out into the entry, and the next thing I knew I felt like I was in a tornado," one of the injured miners, Michael McIe, 42, told The Tuscaloosa News. He was listed in good condition at DCH Regional Medical Center.

The blasts happened about 45 minutes apart Sunday evening at the Blue Creek No. 5 mine, known for high concentrations of methane.

It is the deepest vertical shaft coal mine in North America, with operations at 2,140 feet beneath the surface, the company says. The mine employs 402 people.

The company said 32 people were in the mine performing maintenance work when the first explosion occurred. Six miners were near the blast; three escaped and were hospitalized but the other three were left inside, more than three miles from the main elevator.

Part of the mine will be flooded to extinguish fires, and the dead won't be able to be recovered for at least six days, officials said.

Nearly all the 1,500 residents of Brookwood work in a mine or have relatives or friends who do.

"We've never had anything like this happen before," said Linda Barger, the town clerk. "There are a lot of children who are going to be affected."

Miner William Prisock said he knows all but three or four of those missing. The mine, he said, "is one of the best there is. But if something happens there's nothing you can do about it."

It was the latest in a series of accidents for Jim Walter Resources. Last month, a construction worker was killed in a fall at a coal processing plant. The No. 5 Mine was the site of a blast in 1993 in which four workers were seriously burned, and it was closed in 1995 because of "hot spots," or areas of spontaneous heating.