It had been an excruciating week for friends holding onto faint hopes that their missing miners were somehow alive. Seven bodies had already been removed soon after the blast Monday at Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine, the worst US coal mining disaster since a 1970 explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Ky.
Federal mine safety officials said crews were working to get the bodies out but did not know how long that would take.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is awaiting a report on the mine, which has recorded a long list of safety violations, and Congress is planning hearings. Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said officials would arrive Monday to begin investigating the disaster.
On Saturday, the mood among many people in this swath of coal country was somber.
"It takes something like this to really get your attention, but I think about it everyday," said James Lipford, 38, who said he has been a miner for 10 years.
The discovery of the final four bodies ended days of futile searches by rescue crews that repeatedly battled a volatile mix of poisonous gases and thick smoke that turned them back on three previous attempts. The massive blast also left the inside of the mine a mess of twisted tracks, boulders and debris.
“We did not receive the miracle that we prayed for,” Gov. Joe Manchin told reporters after meeting with relatives to deliver the news. “So this journey has ended and now the healing will start.”
The explosion erupted without warning. “They didn’t know what hit them,” said Patty Ann Manios, a city councilwoman from nearby Whitesville.
