Two Things

Thank goodness this was resolved positively. First, 70 miners trapped underground but since they weren't American it wasn't nearly as important as the 12 from earlier this month. Our news people suck.

CNN.com - Miners rescued after 24 hours trapped - Jan 30, 2006: "Mine officials had originally said they had lost radio contact with 30 of the miners but later found them safe in a refuge room.

Miners at the site reported smoke almost a little more than a half mile (1 kilometer) underground early Sunday morning.

The miners had been pinned in several safe rooms as firefighters battled the blaze and then focused on clearing the smoke from the mine so the workers could be safely evacuated.

Company spokesman Marshall Hamilton said a rescue team had reached the refuge rooms, seen the miners and sealed them back in the safe rooms until the fire was being extinguished.

The fire was finally put out and rescuers began the task of ventilating the mine, a process made slower by the size of the mine, about 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) by 12 miles (20 kilometers).

Hamilton said the miners were trained to seek safety in the refuge stations, specifically built and designed for such incidents.

'In those refuge stations, the workers can seal themselves in and be safe with enough oxygen, food and water to be comfortable for 36 hours at the least,' he said, adding that the families of the trapped miners had been kept informed."

Second, why don't we have these safe rooms in our mines? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Unless, we are just cogs in the wheel of corporate profit and our real purpose is to produce for our betters and then die before we can collect benefits supposedly earned by all that hard work. The real Dharma initiative.

Tags: mine safety, Canada, safe rooms, media bias