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The bodies of 12 men were found Jan. 3 in the Sago Mine in Upshur County. Here is a compilation of the ongoing coverage of this tragic tale.
To see transcripts of the Sago mine interviews, please visit http://www.wvgazette.com/static/sago/
To see transcripts of the Sago mine interviews, please visit http://www.wvgazette.com/static/sago/
November 2, 2007
'EXPOSÉ' episode available online, on TV
An episode of a PBS show that focuses on The Charleston Gazette's coverage of the 2006 Sago Mine dis ...
January 18, 2007
Investigators not sure seal construction is to blame
State regulators plan to cite the Sago Mine’s operator for improper construction of seals that faile ...
December 31, 2006
The Sago and Aracoma coal mine tragedies left families grieving and a nation stunned. The government ...
December 31, 2006
Sago families still looking for answers
BUCKHANNON — In her pickup, over the visor, Lynda Anderson keeps a photograph. It’s famous now: Her ...
December 28, 2006
Confused treatment
WHAT happened? From the early hours of the Sago disaster, Gov. Joe Manchin distinguished himself as ...
December 24, 2006
Despite ‘tremendous backorder,’ one maker has thousands in stock
A year after the Sago Mine disaster, thousands of West Virginia coal miners are still waiting for th ...
December 23, 2006
Safety chief called Sago ‘well-operated’ coal mine
Sago disaster survivor Randal McCloy Jr. and the United Mine Workers union on Friday criticized stat ...
December 22, 2006
International Coal Group’s Sago Mine in Upshur County was a “well-operated coal mine,” the Manchin a ...
December 21, 2006
Too many questions unanswered, they say
BUCKHANNON — Families of the Sago miners were exasperated at state officials’ attempt Wednesday to m ...
December 17, 2006
MORGANTOWN — Samantha Lewis still wakes to the sound of husband David lacing his boots, though now, ...
December 16, 2006
State investigators couldn’t find any batteries or cigarette lighters. Unlike western coal seams, We ...
December 15, 2006
Frustration now focused on Gov. Manchin
Frustrated by a cursory briefing and a confusing report, families of the miners killed in the Sago M ...
December 12, 2006
State officials concede they may never know exactly what happened
BUCKHANNON — In a controversial new report, state investigators repeat a familiar list of clues abou ...
December 12, 2006
BUCKHANNON — Families of the Sago Mine disaster victims drove to Buckhannon Monday, expecting to be ...
December 9, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — In a business tower across the Potomac River from the nation’s capitol, the corner ...
December 7, 2006
Strike’s path into sealed mine still unclear; further tests planned
State investigators have concluded that lightning caused the Sago Mine disaster, but a report to be ...
December 1, 2006
Eight months after 11 miners suffocated following a methane explosion at the Sago Mine, Internationa ...
November 16, 2006
New cases target Ross' role at ICG
Nine new lawsuits were filed Wednesday by relatives of miners killed in the Sago Mine disaster, and ...
November 9, 2006
A judge on Wednesday blocked for 60 days any action in three lawsuits filed by Sago Mine disaster vi ...
November 8, 2006
Laws are crucial
SUNDAY’S paper told of the death of Bud Morris, a coal miner whose leg was cut off and whose knee wa ...
October 18, 2006
A widow and daughter of one of the Sago Mine disaster victims on Tuesday urged federal regulators to ...
October 6, 2006
Family members of six of the miners killed in the Sago Mine disaster said Thursday they are troubled ...
October 4, 2006
Federal mine safety regulators take too long to investigate complaints about hazardous conditions in ...
October 3, 2006
Important schedule
IN July, Sen. Robert C. Byrd complained that the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration didn’t a ...
September 28, 2006
More Sago deaths
THE SUICIDES of two men connected to the Sago mine disaster bring the death toll connected to the Ja ...
September 27, 2006
$35,000 was approved in April but remains unreleased
The Manchin administration has yet to start spending a federal grant approved five months ago meant ...
September 26, 2006
Deaths raise fears about emotional toll from disaster
Two key figures in January’s disaster at the Sago Mine in Upshur County have taken their own lives i ...
August 24, 2006
Lawsuits allege lax safety practices led to Sago blast
Sago Mine survivor Randal McCloy Jr. filed the first in a series of lawsuits Wednesday that allege p ...
August 21, 2006
TALLMANSVILLE — Family members and local residents gathered in Upshur County on Sunday afternoon to ...
July 26, 2006
BUCKHANNON — Peggy Cohen had not had time to read every word of Davitt McAteer’s 97-page report on t ...
July 25, 2006
An independent report released last week on the Sago Mine disaster faults mine operator Internationa ...
July 22, 2006
Federal regulators largely ignored a string of eight mine explosions caused by lightning strikes nea ...
July 21, 2006
Lessons learned?
TWELVE miners would not have died after the Sago mine explosion if they had been given better breath ...
July 21, 2006
Families of the Sago Mine victims on Thursday urged Gov. Joe Manchin to implement the recommendation ...
July 20, 2006
‘Everything that could go wrong did go wrong’
BUCKHANNON — Lightning probably ignited the Jan. 2 explosion at the Sago Mine, but 12 miners would n ...
June 30, 2006
McAteer says he’s unsure if inquiry will result in ‘here’s how it happened’
A report expected next month will not pinpoint the exact cause of the January explosion that killed ...
June 30, 2006
A federal appeals court has upheld the United Mine Workers’ role in the government’s investigation o ...
June 29, 2006
Sago Mine survivor knew proper SCSR procedures
Sago Mine survivor Randal McCloy tried proper procedures to start emergency oxygen packs that McCloy ...
June 16, 2006
Law is first mine-safety overhaul since 1977
WASHINGTON — With the sole survivor of the Sago mine disaster looking on, President Bush signed into ...
June 9, 2006
Legislation approved Wednesday would allow coal operators to opt out of wireless devices
Federal regulators said Thursday their tests of new communications devices for underground coal mine ...
June 8, 2006
WASHINGTON — It will never be as safe as a desk job, but lawmakers hope coal mining becomes less ris ...
June 7, 2006
The wife of Sago Mine disaster survivor Randal McCloy Jr. will never forget growing up in Taylor Cou ...
June 4, 2006
A mine safety bill passed by the U.S. Senate is missing some of the toughest provisions proposed by ...
June 1, 2006
Task force recommends deadline of July 2007
West Virginia coal operators need at least another year to come up with plans to install wireless co ...
May 26, 2006
Question of dedication
EVEN as the U.S. Senate unanimously passed mine safety reform that grew out of West Virginia’s Sago ...
May 25, 2006
Man was operating equipment at ICG mine
The 19th coal miner to die on the job in West Virginia was killed Wednesday while operating a piece ...
May 24, 2006
Where are improvements
ANOTHER explosion. Another five coal miners dead. Another five families mourn the loss of husbands, ...
May 24, 2006
Anna McCloy, whose husband was the only person to escape the Sago Mine disaster, pressed government ...
May 23, 2006
Federal regulators on Monday halted the use of a controversial type of blocks for underground mine s ...
May 18, 2006
A man who falsified pre-shift and on-shift examinations at the Sago Mine in Upshur County in 2004 pl ...
May 18, 2006
A proposed mine safety law in response to the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago Mine in January was un ...
May 17, 2006
WASHINGTON — Senators announced a legislative deal Tuesday that they said would make coal mining saf ...
May 10, 2006
Rules on location of breathing device caches, training walks at issue
Coal operators continued Tuesday to pick away at a new federal rule that aims to help miners escape ...
May 7, 2006
BUCKHANNON — Last week, widows, daughters and sons of the Sago miners sat through slick PowerPoint s ...
May 5, 2006
BUCKHANNON — A water pump that may hold clues to the cause of the Sago Mine disaster remains stuck i ...
May 5, 2006
BUCKHANNON — Several International Coal Group managers are under additional scrutiny by federal inve ...
May 4, 2006
BUCKHANNON — Federal and state investigators joined Sago Mine families Wednesday in questioning mine ...
May 4, 2006
BUCKHANNON — A federal mine rescuer who found the trapped Sago Mine workers apologized Wednesday to ...
May 3, 2006
Start of hearings puts focus on cause, solutions
BUCKHANNON — Peggy Cohen wants to know what happened to the notebook in which Sago Mine fireboss Fre ...
May 3, 2006
Real reform: Coal miners deserve increased MSHA safety measures
Eight hours after a horrific blast rocked the Sago No. 1 mine in West Virginia on Jan. 2, George Jun ...
May 3, 2006
BUCKHANNON — State investigators, federal regulators and West Virginia lawmakers on Tuesday quizzed ...
May 3, 2006
BUCKHANNON — There was no glut of TV cameras — only a few were allowed. Nobody pressed family member ...
May 2, 2006
Chairman pledges families of victims will have their say
SAGO — Early Monday afternoon, the gravel parking lot was empty at the Sago Baptist Church.
May 2, 2006
BUCKHANNON — A 35-year-old U.S. government study indicates that federal rules for sealing worked-out ...
May 1, 2006
Mine blew up 20 minutes later
At 6:10 a.m. on Jan. 2, a light on Sago Mine dispatcher Bill Chisolm’s computer screen changed from ...
April 30, 2006
The Sago Mine violated basic electrical safety rules by not installing equipment to prevent lightnin ...
April 30, 2006
Hominy Falls
Imagine being trapped inside a three-foot-high tunnel, thousands of feet inside the pitch-dark earth ...
April 28, 2006
Survivor says 4 rescuer devices failed trapped men
Workers at the Sago Mine hit a pocket of explosive gas three weeks before the Jan. 2 blast that kill ...
April 28, 2006
Randal McCloy Jr., the lone survivor of the Sago Mine disaster, wrote this letter to the families of ...
April 23, 2006
WHEELING — Amber Helms inspected the blue plastic device and peppered its maker with questions.
Wha ...
April 22, 2006
WHEELING — Federal and state investigators are negotiating with International Coal Group to force th ...
April 21, 2006
Experts from around globe look for solutions
WHEELING — Mine safety experts from around the world flocked to West Virginia Thursday to brainstorm ...
April 21, 2006
WHEELING — The Manchin administration is working to fix “glaring” problems with West Virginia’s mine ...
April 17, 2006
Fears of leaking to the press caused confusion on surface
A secret code devised by International Coal Group officials to combat media eavesdropping might have ...
April 16, 2006
Five days before the Sago Mine disaster, company officials found increasing levels of methane in and ...
April 16, 2006
One Sago Mine fireboss lied about receiving annual safety training, and another said that his safety ...
April 16, 2006
To see transcripts of the Sago mine interviews, please visit http://www.wvgazette.com/static/sago/
March 30, 2006
MORGANTOWN — Randal McCloy Jr.’s memories of the 41 hours he lay trapped inside the Sago Mine are “n ...
March 30, 2006
Federal and state investigators have asked to interview Sago Mine disaster survivor Randal McCloy Jr ...
March 29, 2006
Investigation continues
INTERNATIONAL Coal Group announced that a lightning strike sparked the Jan. 2 explosion that killed ...
March 16, 2006
Two months after tragedy, miners back at work
SAGO — Coal poured out of the Sago Mine Wednesday for the first time since an explosion there claime ...
March 16, 2006
International Coal Group officials say they cannot yet explain their theory that lightning caused th ...
March 15, 2006
International Coal Group said Tuesday it believes a lightning strike sparked the Jan. 2 explosion th ...
March 9, 2006
WASHINGTON — The federal government said Wednesday it had fined the company that owns the West Virgi ...
March 8, 2006
MSHA says more air would have saved many
More than 37,000 underground coal miners and contract workers nationwide would be provided with adeq ...
March 5, 2006
Since 1969, federal inspectors have been required to inspect every underground coal mine in the nati ...
March 4, 2006
Resolve fading?
IT HAS been two months since the Sago explosion caused the deaths of 12 underground miners, and a mo ...
March 3, 2006
Governor wants more full-time teams for mines
Gov. Joe Manchin said Thursday that the Bush administration should require full-time, professional r ...
March 2, 2006
White House review part of process
A rule to give the nation’s coal miners additional emergency oxygen has been delayed while the White ...
March 2, 2006
A public hearing on the Sago Mine disaster will start May 2, Gov. Joe Manchin announced Wednesday.
March 1, 2006
Gov. Joe Manchin promised Tuesday that he was not backing off a pledge to give West Virginia coal mi ...
February 28, 2006
New mine rule adds mandate for emergency chambers
Gov. Joe Manchin is giving coal operators more time to install new mine rescue gear, and appointing ...
February 24, 2006
More time needed to collect information, complete interviews, group says
A group of women whose husbands died in the Sago Mine disaster has asked the Manchin administration ...
February 24, 2006
Managers of the Sago Mine could have easily found out that a man seeking a job as a mine foreman was ...
February 23, 2006
Gov. Joe Manchin still supports new requirements to install additional rescue gear in West Virginia’ ...
February 23, 2006
Beginning next month, Allison Sharp will pore through old coal mining accident reports.
February 22, 2006
Violations allegedly occurred more than year before disaster
A former Sago Mine foreman was charged Tuesday with faking safety reports and lying about his qualif ...
February 21, 2006
Gov. Joe Manchin’s new mine safety director on Monday questioned whether additional rescue gear — no ...
February 19, 2006
On Nov. 20, 1968, an explosion ripped through the Consol No. 9 Mine near Farmington. The blast was s ...
February 19, 2006
The canvas barricade. The “fresh-air base.” The one-hour oxygen tanks.
They weren’t just the buzzwo ...
February 18, 2006
Union’s state chief says BrickStreet ‘breaking the law’ with benefit cuts
West Virginia’s workers’ compensation provider should scrap its policy, created two years ago, that ...
February 18, 2006
Congressional Democrats are again calling on federal mine safety regulators to open ongoing accident ...
February 17, 2006
MSHA releases 1,800 pages regarding safety conditions at mine
Federal inspectors found major ventilation problems at the Sago Mine in the months before the Jan. 2 ...
February 17, 2006
The Bush administration said Thursday that it plans to increase fines for mine safety violations, bu ...
February 17, 2006
A public hearing on the Sago Mine disaster has been tentatively scheduled to start March 14, state o ...
February 16, 2006
Kanawha County officials unveiled a draft of their new plan for dealing with mining accidents at a m ...
February 16, 2006
Mine rescue gear makers from around the world paraded their wares before federal lawmakers in Washin ...
February 16, 2006
Federal inspectors have found more safety violations at the Sago Mine and the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Min ...
February 15, 2006
Stickler bad for MSHA
SIXTEEN West Virginia miners died during the first 33 days of this year. If any cause deserves serio ...
February 15, 2006
Gov. Joe Manchin promised Tuesday to find out why widows of miners promised workers’ compensation be ...
February 14, 2006
Note says smoke blocked escape
Deborah Hamner wants to know why her husband didn’t have the extra oxygen he needed to get out of th ...
February 14, 2006
Six local and national journalists who covered the Sago Mine disaster gathered Monday night in Morga ...
February 13, 2006
Attorney General Darrell McGraw is challenging the decision by West Virginia’s workers’ compensation ...
February 12, 2006
W.Va. breaks its benefits-for-life promise
After Eudell Dickerson died in 1999 from a roof fall in a Clay County coal mine, his widow, Diana, w ...
February 12, 2006
Since at least 1992, federal mine safety regulators have rejected a proposal to install “lifelines” ...
February 11, 2006
Although there’s no deadline, clock is ticking for coal operators to implement new law
West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland has approved emergency rules implementing Gov. Joe Ma ...
February 10, 2006
Foam blocks used to seal off mine area
Federal scientists have agreed to a special study of the foam blocks used to seal a closed-off mine ...
February 9, 2006
Governor wants to name professor to oversee safety
State senators suspended rules Wednesday to hurriedly pass legislation permitting a person that has ...
February 9, 2006
The United Mine Workers union wants state and federal officials to subpoena witnesses for the ongoin ...
February 8, 2006
MSHA also calls for mine lifelines
Under growing pressure to make the nation’s coal mines safer, the Bush administration is dusting off ...
February 8, 2006
The head of West Virginia’s mine safety office plans to resign as soon as Gov. Joe Manchin can name ...
February 7, 2006
Save trapped miners
MANY nations require their mines to contain underground safety chambers — airtight metal compartment ...
February 7, 2006
Critics say increase not enough to protect miners
President Bush on Monday proposed a funding increase for the nation’s mine safety agency, but critic ...
February 7, 2006
Rescue chambers like those that recently saved nickel miners in Australia and potassium chloride min ...
February 6, 2006
Mine safety assets strained
West Virginia’s string of fatal coal-mining accidents is starting to strain the resources of the sma ...
February 5, 2006
Why don’t miners in the United States have rescue chambers to help them survive fires and explosions ...
February 5, 2006
Suddenly, mine-safety manufacturers overwhelmed
Any number of companies are mining coal today, and countless more manufacture heavy machinery for ex ...
February 4, 2006
Mine safety standdown nationwide on Monday
Responding to growing congressional pressure, the Bush administration said Friday it will review 20- ...
February 3, 2006
100 U.S. inspectors to join safety effort in W.Va. by Monday
Dozens of state inspectors fanned out across West Virginia’s coalfields Thursday, in an effort to st ...
February 3, 2006
Investigators find inconsistencies
Federal and state investigators are finding some mysterious inconsistencies as they go through the S ...
February 3, 2006
Mine safety
AFTER the deaths of two more miners in separate accidents in Boone County Wednesday, Gov. Manchin to ...
February 3, 2006
Boone countians favor safety orders in wake of deaths
MADISON — It’s becoming a too-common sight in West Virginia: On Thursday, two small white crosses ma ...
February 3, 2006
Coal operators would have no deadline to provide miners with additional oxygen supplies and other re ...
February 2, 2006
Mine safety equipment has changed little since ’60s
The chances of today’s coal miners surviving a mine emergency such as the Sago explosion remain clos ...
February 2, 2006
West Virginia’s congressional delegation on Wednesday introduced bills to force federal regulators t ...
February 2, 2006
‘Deregulation’ just a nice name for weakening basic protections
Surprise, surprise. Gazette journalist Ken Ward Jr., investigating the Sago mine disaster, discovere ...
February 1, 2006
Safety cast aside
As the world watched in hope that 13 miners would come safely out of the Sago mine in Upshur County ...
February 1, 2006
A federal appeals court on Tuesday declined to block a judge’s ruling allowing United Mine Workers r ...
January 31, 2006
Members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation said Monday that they are putting the final touc ...
January 29, 2006
Technology might have saved W.Va. miners’ lives
Two years ago, the Bush administration rejected a proposal to give coal miners text-messaging device ...
January 29, 2006
At least three miners died at coal operations managed by the Bush administration’s nominee to run th ...
January 29, 2006
‘Boom time’ prices escalating battle over rules designed to keep wells, mines from intersecting
With the markets for both coal and natural gas booming, land disputes between the two industries hav ...
January 28, 2006
Massey's Blankenship critical of W.Va. regulations
Lawmakers and governors in other coal-producing states are following West Virginia’s lead to conside ...
January 27, 2006
In search of credibility
UNBELIEVABLY, President Bush’s head of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration walked out of ...
January 27, 2006
Federal and state investigators finally began their on-site examination of the Sago Mine Thursday, a ...
January 27, 2006
Coal operators in West Virginia should be prohibited from using conveyor belt tunnels to pump fresh ...
January 27, 2006
Federal regulators allow coal companies to go years without paying fines for mine safety violations, ...
January 26, 2006
Agency asks judge to make UMW part of Sago probe
Federal mine safety officials on Wednesday sought a court order to force International Coal Group to ...
January 26, 2006
AFL-CIO official sends complaint letter to federal commission
International Coal Group misled potential investors by hiding the deteriorating safety conditions at ...
January 26, 2006
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper wants to change the county’s emergency plan to prepa ...
January 25, 2006
Governor joins congressional delegation in lobbying Bush administration
West Virginia leaders on Tuesday took their push for improved coal-mine rescue systems to the White ...
January 25, 2006
Over the last five years, coal mines around the country have had more than 400 “near miss” fires and ...
January 25, 2006
Lawmakers in Washington have scheduled a hearing next week to consider confirmation of the Bush admi ...
January 24, 2006
Bill requires rapid reporting of accidents, tracking devices, portable air supplies in mines
In the wake of the deaths of 14 coal miners this month, West Virginia lawmakers shoved through a bil ...
January 24, 2006
Old and new
FACED with grieving families of dead coal miners twice in three weeks, Gov. Joe Manchin promised cha ...
January 24, 2006
Commodification of life: Big Coal has oppressed the Appalachian working class
GROWING up in a rural, working- class West Virginia family and earning a degree from WVU are among m ...
January 24, 2006
Lawmakers in Washington pressed the Bush administration and the coal industry on Monday for answers ...
January 24, 2006
West Virginians can empathize
AFTER the tragedy at the Sago mine, it seemed the world opened its heart to West Virginia. Letters a ...
January 24, 2006
The family of surviving Sago miner Randal McCloy Jr. won’t have to worry about his medical bills. Th ...
January 23, 2006
As lawmakers in Washington prepare for today’s start of congressional hearings on mine safety, compl ...
January 22, 2006
Before each of the nation’s worst mining accidents in the past 15 years, federal regulators overlook ...
January 22, 2006
Zachary Conrad would gladly take any coal-mining job in West Virginia, even at the Sago Mine in Upsh ...
January 22, 2006
Governor promises to take quick action on rescue, safety legislation
MELVILLE — Two coal miners were found dead Saturday evening in a Logan County coal mine, nearly two ...
January 22, 2006
Homer Hickam, originally from Coalwood and author of the memoir “Rocket Boys,” delivered these remar ...
January 22, 2006
Dying miner’s last message offers more than simply comfort
The Associated Press rendered the text of Sago Mine disaster victim Martin Toler Jr. as “Tell all I’ ...
January 22, 2006
The Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine was operating under a new Bush administration ventilation rule that migh ...
January 21, 2006
Federal mine safety regulators 31/2 years ago dropped a plan that could have required underground co ...
January 21, 2006
Jay, Ted Kennedy, two from GOP vow to find answers for victims’ families
BUCKHANNON — Four U.S. senators who met Friday with the families of 12 coal miners killed at the Sag ...
January 21, 2006
The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety met in Charleston on Friday and expressed con ...
January 20, 2006
Coal company lawyers and union representatives are sitting out interviews aimed at finding the cause ...
January 20, 2006
The Bush administration never followed through on a proposal to increase fines for coal operators wh ...
January 19, 2006
Owners want to keep union out of probe
The investigation into the Sago Mine disaster hit a potential snag Wednesday, when International Coa ...
January 19, 2006
Science has never documented a case like this, physicians at WVU say
Sago Mine survivor Randal McCloy Jr. is awakening from his coma, doctors said Wednesday.
January 18, 2006
Open the inquiry
OVER and over again, Gov. Joe Manchin has promised the families of the miners who died at Sago that ...
January 18, 2006
MSHA silent on list of interviewees; UMW will represent miners in inquiry
The sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster was moved out of intensive care on Tuesday, as investiga ...
January 17, 2006
International Coal Group’s top executive in West Virginia previously was president of a company that ...
January 17, 2006
The TV cameras have left town. The memorial services are finished. Now is a natural — and essential ...
January 17, 2006
Public hearing expected later
Federal and state investigators were scheduled to begin interviews this morning as they dig in for w ...
January 16, 2006
State celebrates lives of 12 fallen miners
BUCKHANNON — The men who died in the Sago Mine were hunters and campers. They studied the Bible. The ...
January 16, 2006
Handwritten messages, some from children, were left Sunday on easels erected for a memorial service ...
January 16, 2006
Steve Phillips of Finelines Graphic Concepts in Grafton has designed car magnets, car decals and ref ...
January 15, 2006
With very few words, the families, friends and neighbors of the 13 miners who were trapped in the Sa ...
January 15, 2006
Jesse Jones died at Sago; younger sibling Owen lived
FRENCH CREEK — By the time he powered up the mantrip, his older brother had already descended into t ...
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