U.S. & World

HOLMES MILL, Ky. (AP) ― The men who died from carbon monoxide poisoning at an eastern Kentucky coal mine were using the same air pack model as the Sago Mine disaster victims.

The lone Sago survivor questioned the reliability of the devices about a month ago, while the federal government has said they work when used properly.

Holly McCoy, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing, said the self-contained self-rescuers, or SCSRs, used Saturday were the exact models the Sago miners were using: CSE SR-100. Miners commonly use that model.

Citing preliminary tests, a coroner said Sunday that three of the five Kentucky miners who died in a Harlan County mine Saturday survived the initial blast but succumbed to carbon monoxide. A sixth miner made it out alive.

David Dye, acting administrator of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, said in a statement Monday that the air pack of Kentucky's survivor had worked properly.

"Rescue workers who encountered the survivor during his escape independently corroborated that the survivor was using his SCSR when they encountered him," Dye said.

The federal agency said Monday that the explosion's cause remained under investigation.

Investigators did not enter the mine Monday because the ventilation system was still being repaired, said Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for the state Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. The team could head into the mine Tuesday.

Investigators will look into whether the seals used in the mine leaked, Wolfe said. The seals, similar to plastic foam, and conventional concrete-block seals are used to prevent gases in previously mined areas from leaking into active areas.

"If this turns out to be a methane explosion, it will be interesting to determine whether these seals were effective," Wolfe said.

MSHA said it was issuing a moratorium on the non-conventional seals after the rescuers reported they did not withstand the blast. The agency will require concrete-block seals while the issue is under review.

"MSHA will require that coal-mine operators immediately examine the structural integrity of all of their alternative seals and test the atmosphere behind these seals to protect against hazardous conditions for miners," Dye said.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said he has ordered all underground coal mines that use similar seals to monitor methane more closely to determine whether the seals are leaking.

Paris Thomas Jr., 35, Roy Middleton, 35, and George Petra, 49, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the coroner said. Amon Brock, 51, and Jimmy D. Lee, 33, died of blunt force and heat injuries.

The autopsy findings infuriated several victims' relatives, including Middleton's wife, Mary.

"It makes me upset that he smothered to death," she said. "They need to have more oxygen for them."

Jeff Ledford, whose brother Paul was the lone survivor, has disputed MSHA's assertion that his brother's air pack was working. He repeated Monday that his brother told him his SCSR worked for only five minutes. The devices are intended to supply up to an hour of air.

Randal McCloy Jr., the lone survivor of the Sago disaster that killed 12 miners in January, said in a letter to the victims' families last month that at least four of his crew's air packs had failed, forcing the men to share what little oxygen they had as the mine filed with smoke and carbon monoxide.

MSHA has said that air packs activated by the Sago miners worked properly. The agency has not said exactly how many air packs were activated, or how many it recovered.

During a hearing on the Sago disaster, an MSHA official testified that tests on the air packs showed none had been used to their full capacity before the trapped miners discarded them.

Scott Shearer, president of CSE, the Pennsylvania company that makes the air packs, was unavailable for comment Monday, a receptionist said.

Kentucky legislators responding to the deadly accidents at mines across the country, including the Sago blast, passed a measure requiring mines to store breathing devices underground and to set up lifelines to help miners find their way out. But the law does not take effect until July.

MSHA recently issued a temporary rule requiring coal operators to give miners extra oxygen, but miners and their advocates have been pressing Congress for a permanent fix.

Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said mining companies have placed so many orders for additional air packs that it could take manufacturers two years to fill the demand.

The underground mine, about 250 miles southeast of Louisville near the Virginia border, is operated by Kentucky Darby LLC. Company officials have repeatedly declined to comment. Calls to the mine office went unanswered Monday afternoon.

It was the deadliest mining incident in the state since 1989, when 10 miners died in a western Kentucky mine blast, state officials said. The national death toll from coal mining accidents this year is 31, with 10 of them in Kentucky. That is up from a total of 22 in all of 2005.

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