Can you Imagine?

Can you imagine a loved one being trapped in a mine down at 13,000 feet? Can you imagine being told that 12 out of 13 people trapped have survived? And then, can you imagine being told a few hours later that actually 1 out of 13 survived? My mind blanks out at such a scenario. And yet this is what happened today to people. It is not very clear why it happened, but the grief caused to the families of the miners in the US must have increased many folds. May it never happen to anyone else again.

I was browising through BBC when I saw the news that 12 people survived. The picture used in the updated story even now is the same, relatives reacting with relief and joy.

Then after a few minutes I moved toThe Washington Post and found a different story, saying that 12 people died. Moving back to BBC I found the story has changed there too. The company officials say something about news being picked up and quickly relayed through mobile phones. Such a sad thing to happen.

More from The Washington Post

So ended a drama that began early Monday morning with news of a possible explosion and of 13 trapped coal miners, followed by a methodical rescue mission with workers drilling and tunnelling more than two miles into the mine, followed by good news, followed by tragic news, now preserved only in newspaper headlines that could not be changed Wednesday morning.

What happened, said Ben Hatfield, the CEO of International Coal Group, was this: Late Tuesday night, rescuers deep in the mine communicated to the command post that they had found 12 individuals. Everyone in the command post, listening together on a loud speaker phone, thought they heard that the word "alive" or at least got the impression they were alive.

The news was relayed quickly to the Governor of West Virginia and others, who flashed it to the families and then the press. Church bells rang. There were high-fives and thumbs up and whoops of joy. All the families--except that of one miner--celebrated and thanked the Lord.

Hatfield said that 20 minutes later, another communication came from the rescuers. Twelve were dead, they said. One was alive.

For unexplained reasons, it took several hours to tell the families that the good news was all a big mistake, a huge mistake.

When they heard, they erupted, according to Hatfield and family members interviewed. Cheers turned to tears and rage. Then, family by family, they began emerging arm-in-arm from the church that had served as their refuge. Some were doubled-up with grief. Others just wept. Others were stone-faced and silent.

Some families told reporters. Hatfield held a news conference to confirm, with visible emotion, the tragic news.