US mining rescue turns to tragedy

[mr2aw11]

urlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4579754.st

It appears the news this morning of the rescue of twelve of the thirteen trapped miners was tragically incorrect - only one survivor, twelve dead; can't possibly imagine the feelings of the families having previously being told their loved ones were safe and well.

Sincere sympathies to all the families and friends,

Kelvin.

[Marki]

Saw this on the news this morning how terrible to be told all is ok and then get the hard truth , how the hell could they say 12 were safe ......

[B17NNS]

thats horrible

[telecat]

Seems that garbled Transmissions from the rescue team were intercepted and the claims made by "unofficial" sources. The company involved never released any details until they knew the truth.

[off_again]

Marki said:

Saw this on the news this morning how terrible to be told all is ok and then get the hard truth , how the hell could they say 12 were safe ......

From what they were saying earlier, its a text book example of how not to manage a crisis. It appears that a family friend or similar heard one of the radios on the surface saying "we have found them all" and took it to mean they were safe.... this was then spread as official and before anyone knew, the worldwide news knew.... how wrong they were...

The papers complain about not having access to the people in control of a crisis, as it happens so to say. But there is a good reason - because incorrect information is worse than no information at all. To get it wrong like this is just catastrophic....

[Marki]

Ahh so the good old media baying for news grabbed the wrong end of the stick

[pesty]

Marki said:

Ahh so the good old media baying for news grabbed the wrong end of the stick

Yes but it appears they got the news from the relatives themselves who all started celebrating after hearing from Im sure, a well meaning interested party on the surface who overheard something they didnt understand.
tragic



>> Edited by pesty on Wednesday 4th January 13:12

[andy mac]

Apparently, according to chap on news, it was the t seperate rescue entities that had wrong ends. One overheard communication from t'other, and got it wrong.

[Eric Mc]

Down to poor information management by the mining company and the rescuers. They obviously allowed too many unauthorised personnel to communicate directly with family members which led to this awful misunderstanding. I often think that Americans seem to handle crises very sloppily.

[Marki]

Eric Mc said:

I often think that Americans seem to handle crises very sloppily.

Indeed

[Balmoral Green]

Marki said:

Eric Mc said: I often think that Americans seem to handle crises very sloppily. Indeed

[cirks]

another example of media these days trying to report on things before all the facts are known. Someone said the other day that "once upon a time, News programmes reported on things that had happened, these days, their aim is to guess and give opinion on what the news might be"

[Marki]

Problem BG ?

[Balmoral Green]

Marki said:

Problem BG ?

Not really, but folks have died so maybe not the most appropriate time to do some cynical yank bashing. It sounds to me like the sort of communication/media error that could well have happpened anywhere, it wouldnt have surprised me in the slightest if it had happened here in the UK and we would all be saying it was typical if it had.

I'm sure Jimbeaux and Ernest M will be along when the planet rotates around far enough for them to catch up.

[Eric Mc]

I was not Yank bashing. I was just stating what seemed to me to be pretty obvious. There are times when you wonder about their ability to handle emergency situations. It's bad enough having an accident - that is just bad luck and can happen to anybody - but making sure the tragedy is not compounded by total incompetence seems to be a weak point.

Do you think that this situation would have happened in the UK? My feeling is that there were too many unauthorised persons floating about the emergency scene and there was little or no control over their movements.

[Muncher]

In one of the radio interviews, one of the relatives kept ranting about how they were going to sue

[Fat Audi 80]

Muncher said:

In one of the radio interviews, one of the relatives kept ranting about how they were going to sue

They have my deepest sympathies, but FFS why does Everything that goes slightly awry involve sueing somebody....

[Graham]

Muncher said:

In one of the radio interviews, one of the relatives kept ranting about how they were going to sue

and instantly lost all the sympathy i had for her Stupid bint.... Tragic all the same


although it does seem that the old phrase of

"Couldnt organise a piss up in a brewery " is due to be replaced with

"Couldnt organise a rescue in the usa" all the gear and no idea....

[Petrol_noggin]

Well in one way, lets all be relieved that someone survived.

[ATG]

All it takes is one emotional pillock close to the rescue with a mobile phone to kick off the rumour. Damage done. Hard to see how that by itself can be extrapolated to "Americans can't organise rescues".