The owner of the Utah coal mine where six miners are missing has used the new Google News comment feature to respond to news coverage. Robert E. Murray posted the following comment to at least nine stories:
Comment from Robert E. Murray regarding trapped miners - 18 hours ago
August 22, 2007 - We are totally focused on the recovery of these miners and in administering to the welfare of their families.
The trauma from this natural disaster has been great for many, but we will not be deterred, and we will not leave this mountain until we achieve a resolution to this tragedy.
Unfortunately, at 6:30 p.m., MDT, on August 16, more seismic activity jeopardized our underground rescue team. Living at the Mine, we were among the first underground to arrive to help rescue these additional miners. We pulled them out promptly and administered to them, but, very unfortunately, three (3) men eventually died, with six (6) men recovering from their injuries.
Our efforts in digging and recovering have left me such that I cannot be a good spokesman to the public media on behalf of our efforts to rescue the original six (6) miners. Also, we are addressing the losses of the additional families. Our employees are totally important to me.
Sincerely,
Murray Energy Corporation
Robert E. Murray
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Google began offering comment functionality earlier this month to people covered in a news story, rolling it out first in the U.S. as an experiment. Google confirms the identity of the person making a comment but does not edit it, reserving the right to reject "hate speech, calls to violence, or offensive language."
