An explosion in the Sago Coal Mine in Sago, West Virginia, on Dec. 28, 2005 trapped 13 miners 260 ft below the surface of the mine, resulting in the nation's worst coal mine disaster since 2001.
Because of high levels of carbon monoxide, rescuers were unable to enter the mine until late evening on Dec. 29, 40 hours after the explosion, and upon doing so found 12 miners dead and only one survivor.
However, due to miscommunications, at 11:48 pm on Dec. 29, the families of the trapped miners gathered at the Sago Baptist Church and were told that 12 of the men had been found alive.
Unfortunately, at 8:30 pm, one miner had been found dead but 12 miners were still missing.
At 11:45 pm when rescuers reached the trapped miners and relayed their findings to the station aboveground, the message was unclear because of the full-face oxygen masks the rescue team was wearing. The exact message they sent is unknown, but when that message was relayed to the Mine Rescue Command Center on speakerphone, they "received a report that 12 miners were alive," said the International Coal Group president Ben Hatfield to The Denver Post.
Although officials were instructed not to spread the report until it was confirmed, somehow the good news reached the miners families in the church and spread to the town and the press. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III and Representative Shelley Moore Capito confirmed these reports for the press since they were also at the church.
Acting on information gathered from interviews with the governor, families and others present at the church, local and national newspapers and stations reported that the 12 remaining miners were alive. The Inter-Mountain, the newspaper of Elkins, West Virginia, was one of the few who waited for official confirmation to print the story, and thus one of the few who were not mistaken.
"They should have [gotten] their sources before they said anything about it," said George Washington High School sophomore Cherish Gilleit.
Shortly after midnight on Dec. 30, another communication came from the rescuers saying there was an error and they simply had found 12 individuals, not all alive. This development was not relayed to the celebration at the church.
At 1:20 am Wednesday, rescuers who had reached the surface said that 11 of the remaining 12 miners were dead, and the sole survivor was taken to the hospital.
At 2:30 am, the celebrating families of the miners were finally told the truth.
"It's stupid that they went around spreading a lie that they were alive and everyone came out dead. It's sad," said sophomore Jasmine Arola.
Other students agreed that the media was at fault for spreading the rumors of survivors even though their facts were supported by outside sources.
Although journalists covering the accident checked their facts with the governor, Representative Capito, the families of the miners, and others present at the church, the facts were clearly misreported, shaking some of the public's trust in journalists and injuring some of the people involved with false reports. One of a minority, The Inter-Mountain upheld its high standards for reporting and fact-checking, and thus was not misled, although their coverage of the accident was delayed by the wait for official conformation of the reports.
The survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., is still in critical condition, with kidney damage from dehydration, a collapsed lung and possible brain damage from oxygen deprivation caused by carbon monoxide.
Although the Sago Mine has been cited for having faulty roof supports, violations in the insulation of power cables and inadequate ventilation in the past, the ultimate reason for the explosion has not been discovered and is still under investigation.