Breathing Devices May Be to Blame for Three Deaths at Darby

May 22, 2006 — -- The relatives of the miners killed in the fatal explosion at the Kentucky Darby mine are infuriated after coroners found that three of the five men died from carbon monoxide poisoning and didn't have to die.

Based on preliminary autopsy results, the trio likely survived the initial blast but then died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Harlan County Coroner Philip Bianch said Sunday. The other two died from multiple blunt force trauma and heat injuries, Bianch said. The deaths have renewed questions about the functionality of miners' rescue breathing devices.

"What they told me was when they found my husband, he had the rescuer on, and he was trying to get out," Tilda Thomas told The Associated Press. Thomas' husband, Paris, 53, was one of the miners who died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The blast's cause is still under investigation, but Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher told ABC News that the explosion was probably caused by a leak from a sealed area that had been shut down. Pockets of methane gas inside were still considered a danger a day after the fatal accident, but investigators were expected to enter the mine today.

Paul Ledford was the sole survivor of the weekend explosion. Rescuers found him after he had apparently passed out while crawling to safety. His brother, Jeff, said his rescue breathing device failed after five minutes.

"I just thank God he made it," he said. "Them other guys could of [sic] made it if you ask me, if they had the right kind of equipment.

The Kentucky tragedy was reminiscent of the explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia that killed 12 miners in January. Questions over whether rescue breathing devices worked properly have been a focus in the Sago Mine investigation. Randal McCloy, the lone survivor in the Sago explosion, said that four of the miners' air packs did not work and that they were forced to share them.

Fletcher said officials must continue to evaluate the rescue breathing devices.