Crews reenter W.Va. mine to recover 9 bodies

Posted: 04.12.2010 at 9:28 AM

A miner's helmet is placed amid the floral arrangements surrounding the casket of miner William Roosevelt Lynch of Oak Hill, W.Va. during funeral services on Sunday. / AP photo

PETTUS, W.Va. (AP) — Searchers are back inside a wrecked West Virginia coal mine to recover the last nine bodies remaining from an explosion that killed 29 men in the worst U.S. mining disaster since 1970.

State mine office spokeswoman Jama Jarrett says one crew entered Virginia-based Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine around midnight Sunday and another went in about 5 a.m. Monday.

High methane gas readings forced crews out of the mine Sunday.

Jarrett says they weren't able to drill another hole to vent the methane. Instead, she says they're using fans to reroute the mine's ventilation system and pull dirty air from the area where the bodies are.

A team of federal investigators is expected to arrive Monday, a week after the blast, to start trying to figure out what caused the explosion.