Sago Mine Survivor Shares Story with Families

Randal McCloy Jr., the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster, described the incident and the final hours of his coworkers in a letter to the families of the 12 miners who died in the Jan. 2, 2006, explosion. The two-page typed letter, dictated by McCloy, offers the first detailed account of the mine explosion and the actions and struggles of the 13 men trapped 260 feet underground waiting for rescue.

The letter, which was meant to be private, was leaked to the Associated Press and confirmed to be authentic by Stephen P. Goodwin, the lawyer for the McCloy family, according to the New York Times. In his letter, McCloy described the men's efforts to find a way out of the mine, and their attempts to signal rescuers by pounding on metal bolts and plates with a sledgehammer. As the air in their makeshift shelter grew worse, McCloy said they began to accept their fate. "Junior Toler led us all in the Sinners Prayer," he wrote.

"As time went on, I became very dizzy and lightheaded," McCloy said of the men's final moments. "Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving....

"As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else," he wrote. "I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue.

"I cannot begin to express my sorrow for my lost friends and my sympathy for those they left behind," McCloy concluded. "I cannot explain why I was spared while the others perished. I hope that my words will offer some solace to the miners’ families and friends who have endured what no one should ever have to endure."

In his letter, McCloy drew attention to the emergency breathing devices — called Self-Contained Self-Rescuers, or SCSRs — which he said failed to work for four of the trapped miners, forcing the trapped men to share as they awaited a rescue that came too late. The SCSR air packs are intended to give each miner about an hour's worth of oxygen while they escape or find a pocket of clean air.

In a prepared statement, Sago Mine owner International Coal Group said that it provides workers with SCSRs made by CSE Corp, based in Monroeville, PA, and "were all within the manufacturer suggested life.'' Federal investigators also tested the miners' air packs and found no evidence any of them malfunctioned. Some people speculate that perhaps the problem is that the miners aren't given enough training in proper use of the SCSR.

I can't imagine how hard it must be for Randal McCloy to have written that gripping letter to the families of his co-workers. How difficult must it be to be celebrating life when noone else survived? Kudos to him for sharing his painful memories with the families in an effort to provide them with answers and, hopefully, some peace.