The Associated Press has learned that only one of the twelve miners found were still alive.
HUGE mistake there on the part of the rescue crew, as even the WV governor was told the same thing.
What saddens me is this:
Hatfield told the families gathered at the Sago Baptist Church that "there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived," said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.
At that point, chaos broke out in the church and a fight started.
Dang. Even though it was STILL a miracle that even one person survived, it was overshadowed by the previous miscommunication. On top of that, what was to be a night of glorious praising and celebration turned into conflict THAT quick.
Doesn't take much to forget God, huh?
I wasn't the only one who bit on this story; Wizbang did too. I just happened to still be up at this time of night. I think I'm part vampire or something.
UPDATE: Here's what happened:
Hatfield said the erroneous information spread rapidly when people overheard phone calls between rescuers and the rescue command center. In reality, rescuers had confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs, he said.
"The initial report from the rescue team to the command center indicated multiple survivors," Hatfield said during a news conference. "That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center. It quickly got out of control."
Hatfield said the company waited to correct the information until it knew more about the rescue.
See how much damage word-of-mouth can cause?
Also, the early risers trying to blame this one on the media should shut up. The media crews can't be blamed for this one. They simply reported the information as they understood it, and it was widely accepted.
In fact, the ones who knew the truth withheld it until more information became clear, which helped make this worse than it should have been. For three hours, everyone thought 12 of the 13 miners were alive, and they knew it wasn't true.