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.
Echoes of Sago
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.
"First, we have to check the devices and see if they do work," Fletcher said. "They produce oxygen by a chemical reaction and it's difficult to breathe through these things, from what I understand, when they're working properly."
"So there're two things we need to do. One, is to make sure we check and see if these devices are working -- if they're adequate. Two, make sure we have adequate training for the miners. The other thing I understand is that during a stressful time, these things may not last anywhere close to an hour," the governor said.
Jimmy Lee, 33 and a father of four, and his best friend, Amon Brock, the mine foreman, were among those killed by the Kentucky explosion. Roy Middleton, 35; George William Petra, 49; and Paris Thomas Jr., 53, survived the blast but were suffocated by the poisoned air, the coroner said.
"I already miss him," said Imogene Brock, Amon's wife. "I just miss him. I've looked for him today."
Amon Brock, Imogene's husband of 16 years, had talked about retirement but couldn't stay away from the mine. She also worked as a miner and met him at the same place she lost him -- underground.
"It's all he wanted to do," she said. "He had no interest in nothing else."
A Difficult Year for Mines
Darby Mine No. 1 is located in Holmes Mill, Ky., in mountainous Harlan County -- about 250 miles southeast of Louisville, near the Virginia border. It is operated by Kentucky Darby LLC. According to the Federal Mining Safety agency, Darby Mine No. 1 had a better than average safety record, but still had received 265 citations in the last five years.
So far, 31 people have died in American mining accidents this year, nine more than in 2005. Last week, a Senate committee approved a bill that would require miners to have at least two hours of oxygen available instead of one as is currently required. The bill would also require mine operators to store extra oxygen packs along escape routes and monitor emergency air supplies that are stored in the mines.
"I don't think there's any question that it raises the level of scrutiny and that we need to do something," Fletcher said. "We've worked very hard here in Kentucky to reduce the number of accidents and yet we still continue to have them. So I think it does behoove us as a nation and certainly the commonwealth of Kentucky to take a closer look at these mining operations and see what we can do to make sure that we don't have this sort of level of accidents again."
Rep. George Miller, the top Democrat on the House committee that oversees mine safety issues, proposed legislation that would boost fines as high as $1 million for coal operators found to have a "pattern of violations"; require better communications and tracking equipment underground and direct Mine Safety and Health Administration to issue new rules on safety issues such as improving the control of coal dust; and establish uniform procedures for investigating accidents. It is expected to be acted upon this week.
"We are here making sure that we do everything we can because the loss of one life is too many for us," Fletcher said.