Despite claims by both mine officials and federal regulatory agencies that all workers died either instantly or almost instantly, documentation filed by Geneva Lynch – wife of victim William Roosevelt Lynch – in Boone County Circuit Court alleges neglect by Massey managers in the hours following the blast, according to the Associated Press.
Specifically, the news service said, company officials Christopher Blanchard and Jason Whitehead reportedly came upon a mantrip containing a group of seven miners – including Lynch – who had survived the initial blast and were attempting to escape the mine. They were asked for help, but the two refused and instead ran deeper into the mine.
“The Massey defendants have publicly praised defendant Blanchard and defendant Whitehead for their alleged efforts to enter the mine to search for miners who survived the explosion,” the filing said, according to the Beckley Register-Herald.
“However, when given the opportunity to actually render aid to miners who survived the initial explosion, defendant Blanchard and defendant Whitehead refused to make any effort to render aid.”
Previous news reports have said that Whitehead and Blanchard have both invoked their Fifth Amendment rights under the US Constitution with regards to interview requests from state and federal officials.
Special investigator Davitt McAteer, who is heading an independent, West Virginia governor-appointed investigative team into the blast, reportedly confirmed to the West Virginia Media newswire and other local media that the riders in the mantrip survived the initial explosion and that fellow miner Timothy Blake was attempting to help with their rescue.
“We certainly don’t have anything to say that is inaccurate,” he said.
“That appears to be accurate, yes.”
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Lynch’s attorney Michael Olivio said that his client and her family were “devastated” to learn that their family member had survived the blast.
"Like many families, the Lynch family was told that all 29 miners died instantly. Our investigation revealed otherwise, and this has now been confirmed by Davitt McAteer."
US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Amy Louviere did not respond to an ILN request for comment by press time Monday, but last Friday the Register-Herald quoted her as saying that the agency had told the victim’s families that one of the miners who survived tried to assist those on the mantrip by putting self-contained self-rescuers on them.
"MSHA did not specify whether it believed the miners were alive or dead at the time, instead leaving those decisions to the medical examiner," she said.
"However, there were indications of possible survivors, based on the presence of medical helicopters that flew miners to the hospital."
She added that three of the workers were taken from the mine alive, though one died en route to a hospital, and that two Massey employees helped to put two workers back into the mantrip before continuing into the mine on their rescue search.
Lynch’s lawsuit, according to the official filing obtained by ILN, claims the explosion of April 5, 2010, resulted from the "negligent, willful, wanton and recklessly unsafe manner" in which Massey ran the Raleigh County operation, and the family is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Massey has denied the allegations against the company.
“We'll respond in detail when the answer to the complaint is due, but I can say now that the allegation that Blanchard or Whitehead refused aid or bypassed anyone needing aid is completely untrue,” Massey general counsel Shane Harvey told ILN Monday.
