Key Events in the W.Va. Mine Explosion

A timeline of key events in the Sago Mine explosion:

Jan. 2:

_ An early morning explosion traps 13 miners underground, but rescuers cannot enter for nearly 12 hours because dangerous levels of carbon monoxide are being vented.

_ Rescue crews finally enter the mine on foot for fear of sparking another explosion.

_ The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration sends in a rescue robot, but it's abandoned after getting stuck in the mud.

Jan. 3:

_ Rescuers keep pushing deeper into the mine shaft.

_ A mine executive is "very discouraged" by air quality tests, which show carbon monoxide levels measured 1,300 parts per million, exceeding the maximum safe level of 400 parts per million.

_ Gov. Joe Manchin says it will take a miracle to find the missing miners alive.

_ One body is discovered in the mine. The prospects of finding anyone alive appear increasingly bleak with no signs of life.

_ Shortly before midnight, family members say they have been told that the other 12 miners are alive, 41 hours after the explosion.

_ One miner is in critical condition at a hospital, and was "unconscious but moaning" when he was brought to St. Joseph's Hospital, a doctor says.

Jan 4:

_ Three hours after word the miners had survived, the mine company's CEO makes a stunning announcement that news of 12 survivors was wrong. Just one person survived, he says, explaining the wrong information was a miscommunication between rescuers and the command center overseeing rescue efforts.

_ Chaos and fights break out in the church where the families had gathered to wait, says John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was trapped in the mine.