Michael Henninger

Editorial: Essays: West Virginia Mine Explosion

West Virginia State Police officers direct traffic in front of an entrance to the Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County after an explosion there killed at least two dozen people on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
  
Kayla Venoy, 7, helps her aunt Julie Walker, not pictured, and her cousin Jennifer Walker, not picutred, 10 hang a sign they created asking for prayers for the four as-yet missing miners involved in a West Virginia coal mine explosion outside their home along Route 3 in Whitesville on Wednesday, April 7, 2010.
  
Michelle McKinney hugs Jeannie Sanger, white shirt, after speaking with the media about Benny Willingham (Jeannie's brother, Michelle's father) who was killed in a West Virginia coal mine explosion at Marsh Fork Elementary School on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
     
  
Michelle McKinney holds a photo of her father Benny Willingham, one of the miners killed in a West Virginia coal mine explosion, as she speaks with the media at Marsh Fork Elementary School on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
  
Jeannie Sanger, left, whose brother Benny Willingham was a miner killed in a West Virginia coal mine explosion, speaks with the media with her husband Bobby Sanger at Marsh Fork Elementary School on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
  
Several people watch news coverage of the coal mine explosion at Nuittin Fancy, a diner along Route 3 in Whitesville, on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Employees and volunteers worked late into the morning providing food to emergency workers.
     
  
A woman reacts after finding out her brother was one of 25 people killed in a coal mine explosion in West Virginia while talking to a friend along Route 3 in Whitesville, West Virginia on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.
   
From left, James Platt (red), Crystal Dickens (pink and white), Terry Mitchell (blue) and Nancy Platt go about working at Nuittin Fancy, a diner along Route 3 in Whitesville, on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Employees and volunteers worked late into the morning providing food to emergency workers.
  
Miner Brent Racer, center, walks with his daughter Alayah Racer, 2, and her mother Tara Racer, left, and miner Patrick Lomas after picking up their paychecks from the Upper Big Branch Mine on Wednesday, April 7, 2010. The group lives in Boone County.
     
  
Jason Estep of Whitesville carries his daughter Alyson Estep, 18 months, down Route 3 in Whitesville as hundreds of people show their support for the miners involved in the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in Montcoal, West Virginia, by carrying candles in a walking vigil on Wednesday, April 7, 2010.
  
Two Raleigh County Sheriff's Deputies stand guard in the rain outside an entrance to the Upper Big Branch coal mine on Thursday, April 8, 2010.
  
Pam Souk, Barbara Boyd and Patty Logan of Mount Hope, West Virginia, have created dozens of these plastic miner's hats with black bows and hung them throughout Mount Hope. They are currently creating a batch that is intended to go to the Upper Big Branch mine.
     
  
Hundreds of people gather for a candlelight vigil at Marsh Folk Elementary School in Raleigh County, West Virginia, for the miners killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Coal Mine on Saturday, April 10, 2010.