I know what you mean.

From what they're saying, it was a misheard call from the rescue workers. Somewhere in the relaying it went from that they had found the twelve miners and were checking their vitals, to they had found them all alive. Someone in the command post heard this and leaked the information.

For the record, there was never any official report of it. There was no press conference. When the Governor heard it, he was with the families and looked around at his people basically asking "Had we heard anything?" and they hadn't. He went to go to the command center to find out and on the way was caught up in the joy of the families. He was quoted as saying something along the lines of "Miracles do happen" and this was latched onto as confirmation.

When he got to the command post, they still thought there were twelve alive. They realized soon thereafter that they were wrong, but did not know how many were alive or not. They chose to wait until they knew for sure to let the families know so they wouldn't put them on more of a rollercoaster ride... Sadly, it was over 3 hours later that they got official word of only one survivor. The families... did not take the news well.

People want to know who broke the news, but the President/CEO of the group that owns the mine is refusing to point fingers despite the fact he is actually in the clear, from what info is out.

It's a mess, but... From what happened, one survivor is still a miracle.

It would be easy to make someone the scapegoat so I'm glad the CEO isn't doing that - from your posts and what I've been able to see on the news sites he has done an amazing job and deserves to be lauded.

And you're right - it is amazing that anyone survived.

What's more, the International Coal Group who own the mine? Have only owned the mine for six weeks. It's a mess and I'm hoping that when people have had a few hours of sleep that calmer heads will prevail. It was an odd thing watching people get interviewed last night, live.

Some people were blaming the mine and the "lies" (lies about there being survivors) for the deaths of the miners. Some proclaiming they'd sue. A couple, who lost family, understood why they took so long to correct the news. It was just such a diversity of reactions.

I'm happy to say though that more people are now focusing on the lone miracle than what was lost. As for the miner who came out alive, the doctors are being cautious in what they say. But it looks like he will be make it through, at this point there is no sign of brain damage but they haven't had a chance to really investigate that. People are still praying for him.

The Orlando Sentinel actually went to press with the headline "They're alive!". *shakes head* Way to check your sources guys.

After I saw the revised report on the BBC site I checked the CNN one and although it was up as a breaking headline, the story itself was still stating there were 12 survivors.

I feel horrible for the people who had false hope hganded to them last night. That seems like a form of torture.


Gabrielle