West Virginia Mine Rescue: Clinging to Waning Hope for Survivors

MONTCOAL, W.Va., April 7, 2010— -- Rescue teams at the site of the West Virginia mine explosion could be allowed underground as early as today, but early attempts to communicate with four missing miners have failed, and crews have become disheartened.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said he was "prayerful and hopeful" for a miracle that would bring the four miners out of the Upper Big Branch mine alive, but was realistic that the intense blast that killed 25 miners Monday may have been too much to overcome.

After a day of painstaking drilling, rescue teams punched through the mine early today in the first of four locations needed to vent gas. They banged on the pipes and set off a small explosion to trigger movement under the mine -- miners are trained to respond to a series of noises -- but got no response.

While the families of the missing men wait in agony, clinging to any shred of hope they can muster, the community remains stunned and angry about the loss of the rest.

Timmy Davis Jr. lost his father and two cousins in the explosion.

"He would tell us sometimes about how dangerous it was, but it didn't bother him," Davis said of his father, Timmy "Big Tim" Davis Sr.

"He just loved his job," he told "Good Morning America" today. "That's where he liked being at. If he made it out, he'd go back tomorrow."

Davis said his cousins, Cory Davis and Josh Napper, were "just good kids, trying to make a living."

Davis had driven a coal truck at the mine. But he was laid off, he said, the day of the explosion. Now, he's considering leaving his home state and starting a new life away from the mines that have employed his family for generations.

Officials believe the blast was caused by a build up of methane gas, a constant threat deep in the mine.

Stanley Stewart, who was about 300 feet underground starting his shift when the explosion hit, described it as "hurricane-force winds." The blast could be felt for miles.

"I told my friends, 'Take your time, so you don't fall.' I was trying not to panic, panic was setting in," he said. "I knew it was bad."

Once out, Stewart said, he immediately volunteered to go back in to pull his friends out but was not allowed to make the rescue attempt.

"Some of the company personnel found some people that were killed," he said, crying. "Some of those were my buddies."