Kenneth Ely
PER
Kenneth Ely Ely
Kenneth Ely, a retired Mine Safety and Health Administration official from the United States who is working as a consultant for the operators, said that the detonation sent a shock wave through the mine, causing cave-ins all along a one-and-three-quarter-mile-long shaft. He also added that since there are still likely to be smoldering embers from the blast pumping fresh air into the shaft, which now has high levels of methane, would create the right mixture of oxygen and gas for a second explosion. Facing a crowd of grim relatives of the miners on Wednesday night, Mr. Ely, a tall man from Alabama, said the only option was to seal the shaft off near the entrance, establish a flow of fresh air into that area and then reopen the main shaft one section at a time. The detonation sent a shock wave through the mine, causing cave-ins all along a one-and-three-quarter-mile-long shaft, said Kenneth Ely, a retired Mine Safety and Health Administration official from the United States. Because there are still likely to be smoldering embers from the blast, Mr. Ely said, pumping fresh air into the shaft, which now has high levels of methane, would create the right mixture of oxygen and gas for a second explosion. Mr. Ely, said the only option was to seal the shaft off near the entrance, establish a flow of fresh air into that area and then reopen the main shaft one section at a time.