The next morning I expected to hear that the miners had been found for better or for worse, but nothing. The fire was still the problem and they still had to keep fighting it before they could really search for the men. We did several liveshots throughout the day but nothing like the day before since it was Saturday and CNN has fewer live shows.
At about 3pm we decide to leave since our relief crew had arrived. We returned to our hotel and decided to scout out a restaurant since the one we had eaten at the night before was such a strange experience. We found one just a few miles east of town at the mall. It was very Ruby Tuesdays-like which was, sadly, what we were craving.
Bob and I returned to our Super 8 rooms and I watched tv for a bit. No update. I tried to sleep but to no avail. Then the phone rang. The owner of the mine was at the church. That could only mean one thing, the bodies had been found. We returned to the site. There was a lot of police activity down by the church. I got details on the press conference, who was going to speak, what time, and what were they going to say — the situation had reached it’s cumination I was told. I gave the desk all of the information I had and waited for the mine officials — Jerry Cole and Doug Conaway who were to speak first.
They arrived a few minutes later and described the process by which the bodies had been found. Once they finally extinguished the fire the bodies were found. They had not been able to escape to pockets of air within the mine shafts. They spoke for about five minutes and left.
Governor Joe Machin, Senator John Rockefeller and Representative Nick Rahall then arrived for a to make statements. The Governor looked exhausted and defeated. In a very tired voice he pledged to change mining. He himself lost an uncle in a major mining accident in the 60’s which brought about legislation to make mines safer. “These men have not died in vain,” he said. I was standing there taking notes and looked up at his pained face. I think we all felt defeated especially when this just happened three weeks before and most of us were there too.
That night I found out I would be able to go home due to — as luck would have it — jury duty. I booked my flight right after dinner but Bob’s fate was still uncertain. The network wanted him there but the American Morning show — to whom we belong to — wanted him back in DC to work on a piece for the next day regarding the mine hearings which were to start on Monday.
The next day we started liveshots early again, one each hour until 10am. As it turned out Bob was cleared and we were able to go home together. We said our goodbyes to the people working in the hardware store who treated us so well and left Melville. On the way out we got a good look at the beautiful scenery surrounding this depressing, bleak and impoverished town. I’ve never been to any place that looked so rundown besides certain parts of New Orleans, and it reminds you just how lucky you are.
