Mine disaster takes on historic proportions

Yesterday's coal-mine disaster in West Virginia killed at least 25 miners, making it the worst in the U.S. since 1984, and four more haven't been accounted for, so the disaster could surpass one in Utah that killed 27 more than a quarter-century ago, The Charleston Gazette reports.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the death toll at a 2 a.m. briefing. The disaster is bound to focus fresh attention on mine safety and Massey Energy, the big and often controversial company whose Performance Coal subsidiary runs the Upper Big Branch Mine near Montcoal in Raleigh County. For local coverage, from The Register-Herald in Beckley, click here. (New York Times map)

"The disaster comes just four years after a series of mine accidents in West Virginia and Kentucky -- including one that brought criminal prosecution of a Massey subsidiary -- killed 19 workers and prompted the first reform of U.S. mine safety laws in 30 years," Ken Ward Jr. writes for the Gazette, with Gary Harki and Kathryn Gregory. "Mine safety experts who were in contact with state and federal investigators said initial reports are that the explosion involved methane that built up inside a sealed area of the mine or that leaked through mine seals. Such a scenario would be a repeat of the 2006 Sago and Darby disasters in West Virginia and Kentucky, which claimed 17 lives and prompted regulators to take a closer look at the safety of the vast sealed areas of underground coal mines for the first time in years." (Read more)