Ky. town mourns five who died in mine blast

The initial reports infuriated family members.

''It makes me upset that he smothered to death," Mary Middleton said about her husband. ''They need to have more oxygen for them."

''What they told me was when they found my husband, he had the rescuer on, and he was trying to get out," said Tilda Thomas.

''I just think all miners everywhere need bigger oxygen supplies. The rescuers only have an hour supply, even if they work at all."

Paul Ledford, the lone survivor, told his brother his breather worked for only about five minutes. ''They need to keep up with the technology," Jeff Ledford said.

Reeling from the state's worst mining disaster in nearly two decades, Holmes Mill grieved yesterday over the loss of the miners as federal officials tried to determine the cause.

Governor Ernie Fletcher said preliminary evidence suggested that methane may have leaked from a sealed-off portion of the mine and mixed with oxygen and that something caused it to ignite.

About two dozen people gathered yesterday at Closplint Church of God in Harlan County, just miles from the mine where the underground blast occurred.

''We lost some friends. . . . Some wives lost husbands. Some sons lost fathers. It's really sad," said Stevie Sizemore, a miner who said he was friends with the victims.

Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County will continue to be ventilated until today because pockets of methane gas inside remained a danger, said Mark York, spokesman for the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. Once the gas is removed, investigators will inspect the site of the explosion.

Federal investigators said four of the miners were found close together, but could not confirm whether they had used breathing devices.

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 encountered rescuers on their way in to search, officials said.

Ledford was treated at Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, Va., and released. Jeff Ledford said his brother sustained burns to his face and chest and has blisters.