The Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, April 5, 2010
Two years ago this afternoon, a horrific explosion ripped through Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Twenty-nine coal miners died and two others were injured.
For many of us, the 2nd anniversary is a time to revisit the disaster, to ask questions about whether enough has been done to prevent another one. All too soon, it will be just another date marked on the long, deadly calendar of this nation’s shameful record of mine explosions, fires and other disasters.
To those who lost loved ones, April 5 will forever be the day that their husband died, the day they became an orphan, the day they lost their son or their best friend. Here’s the list of the miners that so needlessly died that day in the spring of 2010:
| Carl Calvin Acord
Jason Atkins Christopher Bell Gregory Steven Brock Kenneth Allan Chapman Robert E. Clark Cory Thomas Davis Charles Timothy Davis Michael Lee Elswick William Ildon Griffith Steven Harrah Edward Dean Jones Richard K. Lane William Roosevelt Lynch |
Joe Marcum
Ronald Lee Maynor Nicholas Darrell McCroskey James E. “Eddie” Mooney Adam Keith Morgan Rex L. Mullins Joshua Napper Howard D. Payne Dillard Earl Persinger Joel R. Price Gary Wayne Quarles Deward Allan Scott Grover Dale Skeens Benny Ray Willingham Ricky Workman |
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