Revised Entry
Posted By Kathleen David on January 4, 2006
For 3 hours the families thought that this would have a happier ending. They were told that their loved ones were alive. For 3 hours they thanked G-d of a miracle that had been given to them. Then the revised news came that one had been pulled out and the other 12 had not survived. The death of hope and a miracle. The one miner pulled out was in critical condition. These families are going to be playing a sad game of “what if ” and “if only” for the rest of their lives. My sympathies go out to the families of the lost men.
Coal mining is dangerous business even on a good day but for many it is the only game in town that pays a living wage so they can support their families. I never met my maternal grandfather. He died before my parents were married I believe. What I do know about him makes me wish I had known him in person. He was a coal miner and a farmer to make ends meet for his family. His hard work helped his children build better lives for themselves and his grandchildren to have the opportunities that his generation could only dream of. Every time I hear about miners trapped in a coalmine, I think of my grandfather and what could have happened to him.
I am grateful that my grandfather made it out of the mine every night.
This is incredibly macabre news. There seems to have been quite a few underlying problems, with this mine and the industry as a whole that caused this incident.
The greater tragedy is that we still rely on an incredibly dirty fossil fuel to power our lives, when nuclear is both safer and renewable if used properly.
You can find all my reasons for preferring nuclear, as well as commentary about the Chinese coal situation (6500 deaths per year) at Earth Sentinel where you will also find peak oil, renewable energy, and climate change news.
its a terrible tragedy
even more so by the fact
that the families had to relive it
because of the innacurate initial reporting
my heart goes out to them all