Mine families' joy turns to despair

By Daniella Relph
BBC News, West Virginia

This latest news has been shattering for everyone who has been waiting here.

West Virginia governor Joe Manchin has been a spokesperson for the families

What seems to have happened is that when the rescue team found the miners, their message was that they had found 12 bodies and that they were assessing the situation.

This message was then relayed through two big speakers that play out any communication from the rescue team to the command centre.

At this point, someone - perhaps several people - in the command centre took that to mean that the men were alive - an extraordinary miscommunication.

The message was then passed to the church where relatives were told via a mine official and the pastor.

That's why we saw scenes of jubilation.

Anger

As church bells rang, we could hear the families shouting and see them coming out of the church hugging each other - some of them singing, some of them clearly praying.

They were just completely overjoyed and relieved with the news that had been passed to them from the central command centre that had been co-ordinating the search and rescue.

The mine official who went to see the families, Ben Hatfield, had to be escorted from the scene by police officers, so intense was the feeling of the families. They were screaming at him: 'You're a liar, you're a liar. You've let us down.'

They felt it was valid information, information they could trust.

That has completely gone now and they are just devastated.

As well as the obvious grief the families are feeling, they are also extremely angry.

The mine official who went to see the families, Ben Hatfield, had to be escorted from the scene by police officers, so intense was the feeling of the families.

They were screaming at him: "You're a liar, you're a liar. You've let us down."

Difficult recovery

The Governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin, was inside the church when a lot of this was going on.

Initially, when the news was coming through that all the miners bar one had survived, he came outside the church and gave a thumbs up to some of the media outside.

So, he too clearly felt that he was receiving some solid information and that he had the right to feel very positive.

Earlier the governor had been feeling very pessimistic.

Just a few hours ago he had been talking about the need for a miracle and the need for America's prayers.

He has been something of a spokesperson for the families and now he is going to have to play a crucial part in the recovery process here which is going to be very, very difficult.