I’ve had the morning news on while I’ve been catching up with the Board, and there’s some very bad news coming out of West Virginia.
There’s been a mine explosion in Marshall County, West Virginia, not far from Wheeling. That’s the bit of West Virginia which is sandwiched between Pennsylvania and Ohio. People were drilling an airshaft, 1000 feet (300 meters) down when the explosion happened, deeper than the Quecreek rescue last summer. Three people are dead, and three more have been injured, two critically. I’m not sure if anyone is trapped, although I get the impression some people might be. I’m about 60 miles away, and the temperature here is 6 degrees Farenheit (-15 Celsius) and we’ve got a few inches of snow to work with.
This part of the country’s not doing well, and jobs are hard to come by. Please keep these men in your thoughts, folks. Mining’s hard, dangerous work, but it does provide a living.
How awful, CJ! I know times are rough there. I just don’t know how miners can bring themselves to do that everyday except for love of family. I’m thinking of the loved ones who wait too.
My heart goes out to the families of the miners. My uncle was killed in a mining accident over 35 years ago, and my mom’s family still finds it hard to talk about that day.
My western civ teacher in high school was from WV. His graduating class in high school had 20-some-odd kids in it, and 12 of them died in a mining accident shortly after graduation.
It’s a hard way to make a living, and I’m sure it doesn’t pay what it deserves, but someone’s got to do it.
Thanks for the link and the fix, UncleBeer. No one was trapped, but the accident was in Moundsville, a town I know somewhat well. My best friend was co-curator of the museum there, and she and I still go there every October to do a program on archaeology. There won’t be any heroic, middle-of-the-night recues for this one.
