West Virginia mining accident and reporting

[scaeagles]

A tragic situation, most certainly.

I bring it up, though, because of the outrage created by the story out that 12 had survived when in fact, 12 had perished.

I am not a huge fan of the media in general, but I cannot really bring myself to place blame on them, or anyone.

As I understand it, someone in the rescue control center said the 12 had been found. Someone nearby interpretted that to mean that they had been found alive. While that is certainly a jump, I do not think it is an unreasonable thing to think - everyone was hoping that they would be found alive, and I don't think it unreasonable. Well, that person then called someone on the outside, and it eventually got to the members of the community, gathered together in a church waiting for news. They emerged, rejoicing, telling the media members that they had been found and were alilve.

The media ran with the story. I don't think that is unreasonable.

I most certainly would not want to be one of the family members, hearing that my loved one was alive, only to find out three hours later that they were dead.

But why is there a need to assign blame? I can understand the disappointment, and I can even understand outrage, but I have now heard that there will be lawsuits. Against whom? And for what? There was a mistake in a misinterpretation of something overheard.

The real issue seems to be lost - that 12 miners are dead in a mine that had a few recent citations for safety violations.