Twenty-five miners died in a coal mine explosion in Upper Big Branch mine situated the hills of West Virginia on Monday. The West Virginia coal mine explosion has made this the worst U.S. mine disaster ever since 1984.
The explosion took place at the Upper Big Branch mine and the search for survivors went on till early Tuesday morning, after which is was called off.
Reports say that four miners have are still missing and that the death toll increased as the night progressed.
Officials say that they still cannot identify the cause of the accident. But federal mine safety and health officials have said that Massey -one of the nation’s largest coal producers – has repeated viloations like having potentially dangerous conditions, including venting of combustible methane gas as well as other issues like “cracking and collapsing of mine walls”.
Families and emergency services gathered around the mine area in hopes of saving as many people as possible.
Reports say that President Obama offered his condolences to the families of the West Virginia miners.
