Virus cancels anniversary event for deadly mine explosion

A planned public gathering was shelved on the 10th anniversary of the worst US mining disaster in decades.

Heartfelt speeches gave way Sunday to silent remembrances and individual prayers for the 29 men who died at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted the decision weeks ago to cancel the event. Instead, mourners were allowed to lay wreaths from dusk to dawn at a memorial site in Whitesville, not far from the mine.

Virus scare or not, Tommy Davis was going regardless. Davis was working at the mine on April 5, 2010. He lost a son, brother and a nephew.

This corona is just what it is. It's life, said Davis, who is now retired. I'll be there to pay my respects and do my remembering and set out my flowers as I usually do. I'm doing my normal thing. I don't change nothing up regardless of what's going on in the world around us.

Another Upper Big Branch retiree, Stanley Stewart, said he agreed with the decision to cancel the memorial event.

Stewart has skipped visiting the memorial every year in favor of personal reflections at home on the date of the anniversary. This year was no different.

He and his wife planned to observe a moment of silence at 3:02 pm, the time of the explosion, "and just show a little bit of respect and try to go on.

Worn and broken cutting equipment created a spark that ignited accumulations of coal dust and methane gas at the mine.

Broken and clogged water sprayers allowed what should have been a minor flare-up to become an inferno.

Stewart was 300 feet (about 91 meters) inside the mine when it blew up and has described the blast as feeling like hurricane force winds."