5 dead in eastern Kentucky coal mine explosion

HOLMES MILL, Ky. -- Mary Middleton said her husband had been working in the mines since he was 18. Denise Bean's stepfather came from a family of miners.\nBoth were among five miners killed in an underground explosion in an eastern Kentucky coal mine early Saturday. A sixth miner walked away from the blast, Gov. Ernie Fletcher said.\nRelatives of the miners had gathered at a nearby church to await word about their loved ones. State and federal mine officials informed the family members of the deaths, said Mike Blair, pastor of Cloverfork Missionary Baptist Church.\n"He thought about coming out of the mines but we have two kids. It was a job to make a living," Middleton said of her husband, Roy.\n"Mining is all he's ever done," Bean said, referring to her stepfather, Amon Brock. "It was his life."\nThe cause of the blast at the Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County was not immediately known. But Fletcher said preliminary evidence suggested methane may have leaked from a sealed-off portion of the mine, mixed with oxygen and then something caused it to ignite.\nIt was the deadliest mining incident in the state since 1989, when 10 miners died in a western Kentucky mine blast, state officials said. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Saturday's deaths raised the national death toll from coal mining accidents to 31 this year, with 10 of them in Kentucky.\nThe miners, who were part of a maintenance shift on duty when the blast occurred, were found about 3,000 feet into the mine, which is about 11,300 feet deep, said Ray McKinney, MSHA's administrator for coal mine safety and health.\nThe governor said some of the fallen miners had donned breathing devices after the explosion and tried to climb to safety. Federal investigators said four of them were found close together but could not confirm whether they had used breathing devices.\nThe only survivor, Paul Ledford, was closer to the mine's exit than his co-workers, Fletcher said. He was about 15 feet from the mine's exit when he came across rescuers on their way in to search, officials said.\nLedford was treated at Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, Va., and released.\nJeff Ledford said his brother sustained burns to his face and chest and has blisters.\n"I've had to holler at him because he's staring off to space," he said, adding it was not clear how much his brother remembered about the explosion.\nThe governor said he had contacted the families of the killed workers.\n"They want answers -- how, why, what caused it -- that will help them deal with it a little more," Fletcher said.\nAuthorities identified the victims as Brock, 51, of Closplint; Jimmy D. Lee, 33, of Wallins Creek; Middleton, 35, of Evarts; George William Petra, 49, of Kenvir; and Paris Thomas Jr., 53, also of Evarts.\nIt was not clear how many workers were on duty when the blast occurred, but officials said no production was going on at the time.\nThe underground mine, operated by Kentucky Darby LLC, is located about 250 miles southeast of Louisville near the Virginia border.\nSince Kentucky Darby took over as operator in May 2001, there had been 10 injuries and no deaths at the mine until Saturday, according to the MSHA, which had been in the process of doing a regular inspection of it.\nThe last state inspection was April 28, Fletcher said. He said two safety violations were discovered: A battery charger was not properly ventilated and a high-voltage cable was not guarded.