Alabama Mine’s Accident Average Tops Nation’s

Ten coal miners are being hailed as heroes for rushing into a mine to rescue co-workers injured by an explosion, only to be killed themselves by a second blast.

The death toll was confirmed at 13 on Tuesday, making Sunday’s disaster the nation’s worst mining accident since Dec. 19, 1984, when fire killed 27 coal miners near Orangeville, Utah.

Federal statistics released Tuesday indicate that the mine had 20% more accidents with injuries than the national average last year.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration reported 9.97 accidents with serious, nonfatal injuries per every 200,000 hours worked last year. By comparison, the national rate was 8.3 accidents with such injuries.

Search teams were at the mine Tuesday, but because of fires more than 2,000 feet beneath the surface and high levels of explosive methane gas in some tunnels, they could not look for the bodies of the remaining miners.

Part of the mine will be flooded to extinguish fires, and the dead will not be recovered for at least six days, officials said.

“I wish I could tell you rescue teams were in and everything was wonderful,” mine spokesman Dennis Hall said. “They are just here on standby.”

The miners who were lost after going in after their co-workers were praised for their selflessness, drawing comparisons to the rescue workers killed in the terrorist attacks Sept. 11.

“These men gave their lives to help others, just as the firefighters and police of New York did nearly two weeks ago,” said Don DeFosset, chief executive of Walter Industries, which owns the mine and its operator, Jim Walter Resources Inc.

One of the would-be rescuers died of burns at a hospital Monday, and the other nine were confirmed dead Tuesday by the company. The three miners they were trying to help also died in the mine.

“It takes a special hero to give up his life to save another,” said Gov. Donald Siegelman. “We’ve seen over the past few weeks that our country is full of those heroes, and Alabama is no exception.”

The blasts happened about 45 minutes apart Sunday evening at the Blue Creek No. 5 mine, known for high concentrations of methane.

The company said rocks loosened in a roof collapse hit a large battery charger, causing sparks that set off the first explosion. The cause of the second explosion was under investigation.

Blue Creek No. 5 is the deepest vertical shaft coal mine in North America, with operations at 2,140 feet beneath the surface, the company says. The mine employs 402 people.