Does anybody think we'll ever see a time of death for the miners?

[Walt Starr]

I predict that there will never be any information regarding the time of death released.

Why?

I would guess that most of the miners died within a couple of hours of being reached by the rescuers, that's why.

[liberalnurse]

1. That is my guess too.

I believe they may be able to get a core temperature....but is the coroner up to snuff? Is he bought and paid for as an elected Official wherein the Coal Mine actually owns the town?

[Acryliccalico]

2. Yep, thats what I think too,

kind of explains the 'miscommunication' some.:kick:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

3. Can you clarify

Do you mean they died a couple of hours after being reached by rescuers, or a couple of hours before?

[MnFats]

4. Matt Lauer relayed speculation on 'Today' this a.m.

with surprising candor, Lauer observed that the sole survivor had about a half-hour left of air in his safety pack.
he reported that this had led some to speculate that the miners who died held out almost long enough for rescue...
Lauer also reported that the trapped miners had pulled some material (can't remember exactly) like sheets of metal or wood around them to bulid a barricade against another explosion.....how terribly terribly sad.


I REMAIN outraged and DEMAND that Congress look into mine safety. The goddamn mines in China are safer than ours!

[newswolf56]

5. Please elaborate what you are suggesting:

(Knowing the infinite viciousness of the mine operators -- I spent a substantial part of my boyhood in Southern Appalachia and the early part of my journalism career there too -- I would not be surprised if the mine operators knew all along the men were dead: that the false report was merely to give them time to bring in the SWAT teams to suppress any protest by the miners, whether peaceful or violent.)

The SWAT team matter is reported elsewhere on DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x183092

This should in my opinion be kept alive as another example (along with Iraq and New Orleans) of the general savagery intrinsic to capitalism and the very specific savagery deliberately unleashed by the Bush Administration (in service to its fat-cat masters) against all of us who are working class Americans.

Where O where is FDR now that we so desperately need him?

[Warpy]

6. The fact that they found one barely alive

means that all the rest probably died within 12 hours or so of being rescued. CO poisoning is insidious, and likely all were unconscious within the first few hours, never realizing how deadly their area was.

The question now is how badly damaged the one survivor will be. Prolonged anoxia from CO poisoning has likely caused significant brain damage, not to mention some damage to other organ systems.

This one might have been a better one not to survive.

[fed-up]

7. Survivor is suffering from dehydration-kidney issues-NOT CO poisoning

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/04/mine.explosion.wed/index.html

McCloy, who suffered severe dehydration and was experiencing kidney dysfunction, is on a breathing tube and is unable to speak, but doctors were able to inflate his collapsed lung.

Fortunately, McCloy did not suffer hypothermia or inhale any poisonous carbon monoxide gas during his time trapped in the mine, Roberts said....

...Miners were alive after accident

Hatfield said it was apparent that the miners, who were found 13,000 feet within the mine, remained alive after the explosion of unknown origin that began their ordeal. They had built a "rough barricade structure," he said, and had donned their self-contained breathing apparatuses. The apparatuses held one hour of oxygen.

Hatfield said he had no way of knowing how long the miners were alive, but he speculated during Wednesday's news conference that the miners tried to make their way out after feeling the percussion of the explosion.
They were likely subjected to dense, heavy smoke as the mine's ventilation system shut down, he said. They then probably sought a safe breathing environment in which to "try to create a barricade and hold out for help," Hatfield said.