In West Virginia, twenty-five coal miners have died after a huge explosion at a Massey Energy mine in Raleigh County. It was the worst mining disaster in the United States in more than a quarter-century. US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Kevin Stricklin said four miners are still missing.

Kevin Stricklin: “What we have is, at approximately 3:00 this afternoon, as a crew was exiting a mine, the mine in a mantrip, there appears to have been an explosion. And there was a sudden gust of air. And persons who were underground, that weren’t affected as much by it, went back into the mine and found nine miners that were in that mantrip. Unfortunately, very sadly, seven of the nine miners are now deceased, and the other two are injured.”

By early this morning, the death toll had reached twenty-five. The Charleston Gazette reports mine safety experts said initial reports are that the explosion involved methane that built up inside a sealed area of the mine or that leaked through mine seals. The Gazette reports such a scenario would be a repeat of the 2006 Sago and Darby disasters in West Virginia and Kentucky, which claimed seventeen lives. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the Massey-owned mine was cited for 458 safety violations last year, and federal inspectors fined Massey more than $382,000 for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment. On Monday, the wives and relatives of many of the miners gathered at the Massey site.

Wife of Miner: “They told me there had been an explosion. And I said, 'Where?' And they said, 'Performance.' And he just went to that mine. He just transferred to that mine a while back, not long.”