2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15
Families in West Virginia were cheering Wednesday night as they were united with three loved ones who were trapped in an abandoned coal mine for four excruciating days.
Kayla Williams, 25, Erica Treadway, 31, and Cody Beverly, 21, disappeared on Saturday. Their abandoned ATV was later found near the entrance to Elk Run Coal's Rock House Powellton mine in Clear Creek, the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.
A fourth member of the group, 43-year-old Eddie Williams, was able to find his way out on Monday and point authorities to their location, ABC News reported. On Tuesday, rescue workers cleared standing water in the caves through water pumps and installed large fans to move fresh air into the mines to keep the group alive.
Officials said that the foursome went into the cave in search of copper wire, a “lucrative commodity in a financially depressed region of the state,” ABC News reported. They entered the non-operational mine through a small ventilation shaft on the side of the mountain called a “punch out hole,” Raleigh County Sheriff's Office Lt. MA McCray told the outlet.
"It's a Christmas blessing," West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice told reporters, the Washington Post reported. "This is an outcome that I really, truly, in my heart didn't think would happen."
Emotional video of Kayla, Treadway and Beverly seeing their family members again was captured at a Charleston hospital on Wednesday night.
"It was terrible," Beverly told reporters in a clip aired on NBC's Today. “Anybody who was involved in searching for us, I just want to thank you, from everything inside of me. This is the biggest lesson I've ever learned in my life. This is a life-changing experience for me.”
Elk Run Coal's Rock House Powellton mine has been inactive for nearly two years, NBC News reported. A sheriff's spokesman told the outlet that entering an abandoned mine is illegal.
Recommended:
One-year-old Baby Died After Being Abandoned In A Hot Car
One-year-old baby dies inside a hot car, forgotten by his foster mother
Man Survives On Taco Bell Hot Sauce Packets While Trapped In The Snow For 5 Days
An Oregon man was trapped in his car for five days during a snowstorm, where he survived only on three packets of Taco Bell hot sauce, according to The Oregonian this link opens in a new tab. Jeremy Taylor, 36, of Sunriver, Ore., Was on an off-roading adventure with his dog on Feb.
Parents Of Toddler Trapped In Well For 12 Days Also Suffered Loss Of Their Older Son Two Years Ago
Miners continue their tireless search on Friday for the toddler who fell into a well more than a week ago in Southern Spain as they now have to resort to explosives to reach him. Two-year-old Julen Rosello was with his parents, Jose Rosello and Vicky Garcia, in Malaga, Spain, on January 13, when he plummeted at least 30 stories down into an unmarked well.
Rescue Of Three Relatives Trapped Under A Mine In West Virginia
According to the authorities, the four people went to the cave in search of copper wire
A Woman Is Abandoned After Being Disfigured
A mother is disfigured after suffering burns and her husband abandons her
