Trapped Miners

[Nikki]

I'm sure most of you (at least those of you in Utah) have heard about the miners who are trapped. I just came across this article and was fairly intrigued:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20342380/

The families of those trapped are accusing the workers of "giving up." I understand that it is a very difficult thing for the families, and the loss of a loved one is probably one of the worst things that can happen to anyone, but when workers have died in the process of trying to find the trapped miners and it's been such a significant amount of time since the crash occured, it doesn't seem logical to me to continue in the search. The chances of them being alive are extremely small and continuing searching would only cause more unnecessary tragedies. It almost seems selfish of the relatives of the miners to ask them to keep searching (and yet while writing this I feel as if it might be disrespectful to the relatives and the miners themselves...)

[mark]

Here's the question... where do you drill for the capsule?  If they can't find the miners... or at least the bodies, where do the family members want the hole?

[Nikki]

That was a question I posed to myself, Mark. I have no idea where they want the workers to drill for the capsule. If they knew where to drill for it, then they would know where the miners are and would have been able to get them out some time ago. I guess it's hard to think logically when you've experienced a loss like that.

[TiKiMaN1]

I really do wonder to myself however if theses companies did take the right measures to speed up the process and still at the same time ensure the safety of the rescuers.  How sad that 3 lives were lost just the other day.

[Nikki]

So this kind of made me mad:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1683853

Instead of the family members being THANKFUL that they are drilling another hole, they are again getting mad and protesting.

Much of the frustration has been aimed at mine owner Bob Murray. In a written statement the families accuse him of delivering the news Monday night that the six miners were dead, without tact or respect. Just last night friends of the miners posted signs outside the mine, protesting Murray's belief it is too dangerous to send anyone into the mine to recover the miner's bodies.

Everything I've read about the owner of the mine has shown him as a very respectful guy. And how can they claim it isn't too dangerous when others have already died trying to help?

[TiKiMaN1]

So this kind of made me mad:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1683853

Instead of the family members being THANKFUL that they are drilling another hole, they are again getting mad and protesting.

Much of the frustration has been aimed at mine owner Bob Murray. In a written statement the families accuse him of delivering the news Monday night that the six miners were dead, without tact or respect. Just last night friends of the miners posted signs outside the mine, protesting Murray's belief it is too dangerous to send anyone into the mine to recover the miner's bodies.

Everything I've read about the owner of the mine has shown him as a very respectful guy. And how can they claim it isn't too dangerous when others have already died trying to help?

My wife and I were watching the other night when the families presented a statemnet to the media about how upset they were.  To be honest I have wondered a bit why they did not try a rescue from the top down from the beginning.  It is hard in a situation like this not to question the methodology for rescue.  Only those attempting the rescue themselves really know if they have done there best.  If they have then there is nothing to worry about.

This really is such a sad situation.

[Nikki]

It's hard for me to think that, in a situation like this, someone would NOT try their hardest. Maybe they didn't go about it the best way from the beginning, but I bet that's what they thought was the safest way to do it.

[TiKiMaN1]

It's hard for me to think that, in a situation like this, someone would NOT try their hardest. Maybe they didn't go about it the best way from the beginning, but I bet that's what they thought was the safest way to do it.

For sure there is no way to deny this.  And for this very reason the families need to calm down.  I would have to say that in most life treatening situations humans will try their hardest to save someone.

True character of individuals can be shown during trying times.  If there are hard feelings I hope people are willing to forgive.

[mark]

I'll admit that Murray has a really poor media presence.  But other than a situation like this... what PR needs does a coal mine have?  He is not trained or experienced at making statements press releases or any of that stuff.

I personally think that (from a business standpoint) he should have immediately hired a PR rep that would make most of the statements, organize and direct the press releases, and help him prepare his statements.  It would have freed up a lot of his time for the administrative nightmare a tragedy/rescue effort like this causes, would have helped the image of the mine, and probably most importantly, could have helped the families.

[Ryan]

This situation kind of reminds me of the movie Vertical Limit.  The movie was kind of cool but it was ridiculous because Chris O'Donnell was trying to save his sister which he does but like 5 or 6 other people died in the process so they lost more people than they saved.

[Jonathan]

If there are hard feelings I hope people are willing to forgive.

It's a horrible thing when anyone loses a loved one.  In this situation it's really sad to think that the families are so upset with the people trying to help them.  Granted, some slack should be given because they may just be trying to cope with the loss and feeling like they need to blame someone.

People were willing to come together and risk their own lives to save those people.  Even if they weren't successful, the families should be soo greatful that anyone was willing to do that. 

The people trying to help could have just left them for dead, but they didn't.