The Message From 240 Feet Below

On a July night in 2002, nine families huddled outside a pasture in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, waiting for news they feared would never come. Their husbands, fathers, and brothers were trapped 240 feet underground in the flooded Quecreek Mine, sealed behind millions of gallons of black water that had burst through a wall three days earlier. Rescue crews drilled through solid rock while wives clutched cold coffee cups and children slept on blankets spread across the grass.…