Mine Fiasco: Reply to Andrew

I will continue to attest that when normal people—not politicians, lawyers, but everyday people—tell you news, you tend to believe them. When someone comes home in my house and they say something such as, “There was a fire at Dunkin Donuts today,” my typical reaction is to believe them. I’m not going to wait for an official press release, and chances are that whoever told me, wasn’t at or near that Dunkin Donuts. I’m also sure that the foreman overheard, or at least heard it from someone else, but there was no reason to believe it was false. Hope was low, but not lost. This was a situation where if they survived the initial blast, there was hope for a period of time afterwards until they began to dehydrate and die (about 3-4 days). The major factor in speculating there health was an air quality test, which showed dangerous levels of gas.

“The outlook for the men appeared bleak Tuesday morning, when rescuers found deadly levels of carbon monoxide — a byproduct of combustion — in the mine, and got no response when they banged on a steel pipe.”

The miners were not stupid though.

“McCloy and the 11 others were found at the deepest point of the mine, about 2 miles from the entrance, behind a fibrous plastic cloth stretched across an area about 20 feet wide to keep out deadly carbon monoxide gas, Hatfield said. Such curtains, called battices, are used in mines to direct air flow, and miners are trained to use them in an emergency.

Each of the miners in the barricaded area also had a breathing apparatus that purifies the air and had been able to use it, according to mine officials.”

“The sole survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition Wednesday with a collapsed lung and dehydration but no signs of brain damage or carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped for more than 42 hours, a doctor told The Associated Press. At 27, McCloy was the youngest in the group.”

Unfortunately, it does not say how the rest died, out of respect for the families, but I speculate thirst, in addition to injuries sustained by the blast.

Hope was perfectly reasonable, and the families had no reason to believe that the news they were told, overheard or not, would be wrong. The news shouldn’t of gotten out, but it did. I don’t believe it is anyone’s fault. I assert that they were not lied to, and neither side is at fault.

“"There was no such word from the company itself," he insisted. "We have taken great precautions to be sure that our numbers were right, that our times were right, that the information was correct when we make a statement."”

The time to correct the unfortunate mistake is unsettling but reasonable. Though the circumstances are different, it is similar to the Munich fiasco. The news reported that all of the Israeli athletes were alive. Then come to find out later, every single one was dead. No one lied, it just sucks.

All my information was taken from here


Sidenote from Andrew:
It looks like we've been arguing different points. I basically agree with everything you've said, that the people weren't entirely foolish to have hope. And it seems to me you agree with my point that to allege the mine had lied to the families is foolish. But god damn we're good at making points.