Thursday, January 5, 2006

Late Tuesday, more than 41 hours after an explosion trapped 13 miners, and almost three hours after the initial body was found, rescuers reached the others.

Rescuers find 12 miners. Only one is alive, but the command center receives a miscommunication that all survived. The false report reaches families gathered at a church.

Rescuers reach a point where they no longer need to wear breathing apparatus. They notify the command center there is one survivor. The command center initially believes this report of 11 dead may be erroneous.

Hours after the command center was notified of the 11 deaths, the mining company completes a statement that only one miner survived and goes to the church to inform the families.