A timeline of key events surrounding the miscommunication of the deaths of 12 miners in the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, W.Va., according to Ben Hatfield, chief executive of International Coal Group Inc.
Tuesday:
11:45 p.m. — The mine rescue command center receives a radio report from the rescue team inside the mine that 12 miners are alive. Officials believe numerous cell phone calls from a number of rescue workers are made to family members and others after this report.
Wednesday:
12:18 a.m. — Information is relayed to the mine command center that the rescue team and survivors are heading out of the mine. ICG officials at the mine do not release any statements at this time.
12:30 a.m. — Members of the mine rescue team, who had been wearing full-face oxygen masks, reach an area of fresh air and no longer need breathing equipment. The command center is then informed there is only one survivor and the other 11 miners appear to be dead. The immediate reaction at the command center is that the initial report is still correct and the report of only one survivor is in error.
1:20 a.m. — The report of one survivor is confirmed. That survivor is immediately taken by ambulance to a hospital. At this time, the survivor's identity is not yet known because his ID was removed during resuscitation.
1:38 a.m. — Four additional rescue teams are dispatched with emergency medical technicians to confirm the remaining miners are dead or provide medical care if needed.
2 a.m. — When officials learn the initial reports may have been incorrect, state police are asked to notify clergy, so they can pass the word to families who have gathered at a church near the mine. At least some of the clergy get that message but it is not "effectively relayed" to families.
2:15 a.m. — Survivor Randal McCloy's identity is confirmed when he reaches St. Joseph Hospital in nearby Buckhannon.
2:30 a.m. — ICG officials prepare a brief statement and head to the church to inform the families of the "devastating news."
3 a.m. — Familes tell the news media that the initial report of 12 survivors is wrong, and that 12 miners actually died and only one survived.
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