Heartbreaking
I'm sure most, if not all, of you have heard the news about the tragedy in West Virginia and the trapped coal miners. I was up late last night working on the last of six syllabi for the upcoming semester and read the news that 12 of the 13 trapped miners were found alive. I flipped between MSNBC and CNN to watch the coverage of jubilant relatives and friends until about 1:00 a.m. before falling asleep.
I did think it was rather odd that only one ambulance had left the scene, but I certainly did not expect this: 12 of the 13 were dead. What is so discouraging though is that once the initial reports came out that the miners were alive, it was almost three hours before anyone stepped forward to tell the families that these first reports were wrong. Both the govenor and company CEO have said that they knew within 20 minutes after the announcement that they were alive that there were some wrong communications. Yet it was another 2 1/2 hours before they told family members.
The president and CEO of the mining company, Ben Hatfield, is in a tough spot today. Not only is he dealing with the death of 12 of his employees, but also with VERY angry family members. There are reports that several family members had to be restrained.
It is not my place to add fuel to the fire here. There were certainly some very bad leadership decisions made and perhaps we'll leave it at that for now. The fact that family members spent three hours fully expecting to see their loved ones alive, only to find out otherwise, is about as heartbreaking a story as one will come across. May the good Lord console those who have endured several days of roller coaster emotions, and look kindly on those who have been called to their heavenly home.
I did think it was rather odd that only one ambulance had left the scene, but I certainly did not expect this: 12 of the 13 were dead. What is so discouraging though is that once the initial reports came out that the miners were alive, it was almost three hours before anyone stepped forward to tell the families that these first reports were wrong. Both the govenor and company CEO have said that they knew within 20 minutes after the announcement that they were alive that there were some wrong communications. Yet it was another 2 1/2 hours before they told family members.
The president and CEO of the mining company, Ben Hatfield, is in a tough spot today. Not only is he dealing with the death of 12 of his employees, but also with VERY angry family members. There are reports that several family members had to be restrained.
It is not my place to add fuel to the fire here. There were certainly some very bad leadership decisions made and perhaps we'll leave it at that for now. The fact that family members spent three hours fully expecting to see their loved ones alive, only to find out otherwise, is about as heartbreaking a story as one will come across. May the good Lord console those who have endured several days of roller coaster emotions, and look kindly on those who have been called to their heavenly home.
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