CENTRALIA, Ill. -- Any time he hears of a mining disaster, like the West Virginia explosion this week that left a dozen miners dead, 77-year-old Bill Niepoetter cringes because such tragedies hit ...

WAMAC, Ill. — It was almost quitting time for 142 men working 540 feet below ground in Centralia Coal Co.'s Mine No. 5. In operation since 1908, the mine's tentacles ran three or more miles from the ...

Mrs. Alfredo Pollacci (left), the wife of a miner, is comforted by a relative as she waits outside the mine for news of her husband. Miners' relatives rushed quickly to the mine as word spread about ...