According to AP:

But late Tuesday night, families began streaming out of the church, yelling "They're alive!" The church's bells began ringing and families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent rescue a miracle.

As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing there were no others.

Though the governor announced that there were 12 survivors, he later indicated he was uncertain about the news. As word buzzed through the church of survivors, he tried to find out what was going on, he said.


A Terrible Mistake

"All of a sudden we heard the families in a euphoric state, and all the shouting and screaming and joyfulness, and I asked my detachments, I said, 'Do you know what's happening?' Because we were wired in and we didn't know," Manchin said.

International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a "miscommunication." The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs. At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman.

"That information spread like wildfire, because it had come from the command center," he said.

Three hours later, Hatfield told the families that "there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived," said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.

"There was no apology. There was no nothing. It was immediately out the door," said Nick Helms, son of miner Terry Helms.

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. About a dozen state troopers and a SWAT team were positioned along the road near the church because police were concerned about violence. Witnesses said one man had to be wrestled to the ground when he lunged for mining officials.

And the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4580388.stm

How did the mine message spread?

Various accounts have started to emerge of the communications failings which led families of 11 US miners found dead to believe their loved ones were alive.
Relatives say the devastating news that only one of the West Virginia miners had survived came about three hours after they had been told 12 were alive.

The mining company said it knew within 20 minutes that initial reports of 12 survivors were incorrect, but said it was not clear at that stage how many were dead.

Inquiries are under way to find out how the wrong information was given out, as investigators await rescuers' accounts.

The tragedy raises two key questions: was the rescue team misunderstood or wrong, and why did it take so long for the families to be told?



FAMILY
Families say they were told by a company foreman that the men had been found alive.


They say they had been rejoicing for nearly three hours when they were told 11 of the 12 had not survived.


In graphics: How tragedy unfolded
Relatives want to know why officials from the mining company had waited before they broke the news.

There is intense fury.

"I feel that we were lied to all along," said Anne Meredith, whose father died in the incident.

Nick Helms, a relative of one of the miners said: "They said it was miscommunication, come on. You come in and you tell all these people that have been waiting here you've got 12 guys coming out. There is no miscommunication."


WEST VIRGINIA GOVERNOR JOE MANCHIN
Governor Joe Manchin said the tragic news came more than three hours after he had been that told 12 survived the disaster.

But he said his communications team have never received confirmation that there had been survivors.

"I was with the families when all of a sudden I heard... a lot of the families start clapping and screaming, and my people, my communications people, had heard nothing and there was no confirmation."


INTERNATIONAL COAL GROUP (ICG)
ICG President Ben Hatfield said initial news that the 12 men had been found alive was "bad information".

He sought to explain how the misunderstanding occurred.

"There was a miscommunication and I don't know really know whose end it was, but there was a miscommunication, that resulted in the command centre believing they were told that there [were] 12 survivors," he said.

"And apparently the intention on the part of the rescue teams was to confirm that they had 12 individuals and they were at that point checking vital signs, trying to determine who was a survivor and who wasn't."

The information was "an incomplete evaluation at the point that it went to the command centre", he said.

"[T]hrough stray cellphone conversations it appears that this miscommunication from the rescue team underground to the command centre was picked up by various people... was relayed through cellphone communications without our ever having made a release," he added.

The company stressed it had never confirmed all 12 men were alive.

"But that information spread like wildfire because it had come from the command centre, but it was a bad information," he said.

Mr Hatfield said that the company had waited until it could determine which of the miners were dead or alive to tell the families their fate.

You are pathetic. God forbid you quote me accurrately or even take those words in context.
You are a fraud Donger.

You project nicely.

And you're a callous asshole, jAZ.

jAZ, normally you are spot on in your assessment but in this one you are just wrong.

A rescuer calls to notify someone and the conversation is overheard, a mine official then told the family members what he thought he heard, they begin to celebrate, the Gov.'s people confirm the information, the media reports it.

At which point in this sequence is the media supposed to say what they are seeing and hearing is not fact? Especially when PEOPLE IN THE KNOW WITHHELD THE TRUTH FOR THREE HOURS?

The media does more than it's share of crappy things and needs to be held accountable for them. But in this instance, they were hosed along with the families and everyone else wanting to believe the stories to be true.

You remain far out on a limb that even Rush Limbaugh, upon hearing details of the timeline, has climbed off of...

that is not a place I think you want to be.

How about when the media, whom are placed all over the rescue site, see live bodies come out not dead ones. God forbid we hold the media accountable........:banghead:

Sure, but then what do they report or describe about what they are seeing from the families in the church and being told by the GOV. office?

I'm sure there will be time for accountability and blame. But this haste to blame the media here has more to do with some people's own agendas vs. any real culpability based on the timeline.

Oh hell no! I do not just blame the media. I hope that the surviving family members can sue the living crap out of the mining company, the state and the media. They are all to blame for the misreporting of the fate of the miners. But, the mining company & state/federal inspectors are solely responsible for the mishap. I have no misgivings about who is to blame, I just refuse to give the lazy media a free pass.

I understand your point and don't disagree with it in a broad sense, but the media could have and in this case should have reported "rumors are swirilling that 12 people are alive".

The live TV media could have and should have reported it as such. But they also face a smaller burder of accuracy in a sense as they are able to report what they are learning as they learn it. But they are responsible for reporting what they learned accurately. They need to qualify their reports appropriately.

The print media has an even higher burden, IMO because their printing schedule doesn't allow for getting it right once it goes to print. In that case, it is even more important to report the story accurately. And an accurate report would be (again) "unconfirmed reports suggest 12 found alive" or some such.

That doesn't make for a good news-paper selling headline though, so they punch it up a little in exchange for actual accuracy.

I am only holding the media accountable to the same standard that they are alway accountable for, IMO. Nothing additional.

I'm certainly not holding them responsible for the source information being false.

To give you a familiar parallel that might make some sense for you... IMO it's like the Dan Rather, Bush, Draft story.

I hold CBS and Dan Rather accountable for a failure in editorial judgement. They rushed a story and should have held themselve to a higher journalistic standard. Similarly I am not saying that Rather is responsible for any mis-information. His failure was in editorial control.

JMO.

This is exactly why you are a fraud. Hide context so that you can make your point. Nicely done.

Yeah, good luck with that.

You really see anything in there that does NOT show you to be a callous prick?

I don't know about Rush's agenda (well yes I do), but my agenda is one of greater accuracy and lesser sensationalism.

The media can report "unconfirmed reports of ...". Instead they dropped that portion of the report because it takes away much of the dramatic effect and great TV (or headlines).

Screw the ratings and the sales.

Yeah, quite a bit.

God, I agree with jAZ....:banghead:
I feel dirty, like I just rooted for the Bronco's.......