Published: April 6, 2021 |

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A memorial was held Monday on the 11th anniversary of the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion that killed 29 miners.

The service was held at 12:30 p.m. Monday beside the Raleigh County Courthouse in Beckley. Viewers may watch a stream of the service below.

All names were read, and a bell rung after each name.

“It brings it all back,” Jeanie Sanger, who lost her brother in the explosion, said. “But just to know other people care. People who have lost, I love hugging them and having the same feeling.”

“We remember where we were, what we were doing and how we felt that day and the days after. Our lives, mine included, were changed, because we are all family. Not only connected through the industry of mining and all the businesses related to mining, but a much deeper connection. A connection of love for our fellow man that brings us together today,” a speaker said Monday.

The public was also invited to visit the memorial in Whitesville to commemorate the anniversary. Wreaths have been placed at the memorial ahead of the anniversary.

An explosion at 3:02 p.m. on April 5, 2010, killed 29 miners in one of the worst coal mining disasters in 40 years.

Source: WCHS TV

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