Investigation launched into deaths of trapped Welsh miners

Forensics teams examine scene at Gleision colliery after four men found dead in flooded mine An investigation has been launched after four men died in a flooded south Wales colliery in the worst mining disaster for 30 years. The inquiry was announced after the discovery of the bodies of the miners, who had been trapped deep underground at the Gleision colliery in the Swansea Valley. Police and safety officials promised to establish how and why they were killed. Forensics teams at the mine in the village of Cilybebyll have begun to piece together what happened. The four – Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Phillip Hill, 45, and Garry Jenkins, 39 – were trapped after water poured into the shaft they were working in on Thursday morning. Three others, including Powell’s son, Daniel, managed to get out and raise the alarm. The Welsh secretary, Cheryl Gillan, said: “We must ensure we learn the lessons and find out what happened to these men.” She said the investigation would initially be led by South Wales police before being handed over to the Health and Safety Executive. David Cameron described the tragedy as a “desperately, desperately sad situation”. The prime minister said the anguish of the miners’ families was “intense” but added it was clear the emergency services had done everything they could. Peter Vaughan, chief constable of South Wales police, said: “We’ve tried to bring this safely to its conclusion. Unfortunately the conclusion we have is the one none of us wanted.” Expressing his condolences to the men’s families, he said: “I can’t begin to imagine what the families are going through. “We’ve been humbled by the community spirit that’s been shown during this most tragic of incidents.” Fire and rescue and ambulance workers said they had never seen or worked in such conditions before. Of the three men who escaped the flooded mine, one is now critically ill in hospital. The two other men who were with him emerged largely unharmed and helped the rescue operation. Neath MP Peter Hain said: “This is the end we all feared but hoped against hope wouldn’t happen. “Extraordinary courage was shown by the families right through the night, tortuous hours of waiting. We can’t imagine what they have been through. “This has been a stab right through the heart of these local communities. There’s a long tradition of mining here but nobody expected the tragedies of past generations would come today.” Richard Smith, chief fire officer for Mid and West Wales fire and rescue service, said: “Ambulance and fire officers have all expressed to me that within 30 years of service they’ve never actually seen such conditions and worked in such conditions that they’ve had to over the last two days to try and bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.” Asked whether any of the men ever stood a chance of surviving, Smith said: “It’s a bit too early to tell whether they would have stood any chance of survival or not but the fact that I think that them being together where they were working will probably be indicative of that.” The archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, said: “My heart goes out to the families of those killed in Gleision colliery. The whole community is heartbroken for them.” Wales Mining David Batty guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.