Gee, Where Were Mine Inspectors Before Collapse? Oh Yeah, Bush appointed industry Insiders

Six coal miners were killed in the dramatic cave-in of the Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah on August 6, 2007 that drew worldwide media coverage as rescuers made frantic efforts from below ground and above to reach the men.

Ten days later two mine employees and a Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector died during a second collapse that forced officials to end the rescue effort and say there was no hope of finding the trapped miners alive.

Outspoken Crandall Canyon Mine owner Robert Murray said at the time that the collapse was due to an earthquake in the area, but MSHA investigators dismissed that assertion in releasing the findings at a briefing with reporters in Utah on Thursday.

"First of all it was not, and I'll repeat not, a natural occurring earthquake but in fact it was a catastrophic outburst of the coal pillars that were used to support the ground above the coal seam," MSHA chief Richard Stickler said.