This Sunday's reading from the Book of Acts tells us that "signs and wonders" were done at the hands of the apostles. While China celebrates what one mine safety expert called "one of the most amazing rescues in the history of mining anywhere" this week, a West Virginia mining community is in shock and mourning following a mine explosion Monday that left at least 25 miners dead and four missing.

Chinese rescuers pulled 115 miners to safety from a flooded coal mine Monday more than a week after they were trapped. Some of the miners survived by hanging from straps above flood waters. But the news was far grimmer at the Upper Big Branch mine just south of Charleston, W. Va., which has a long history of safety violations.

The coal mine owner's dismal safety record, along with several recent evacuations of the mine, left federal officials and miners suggesting that Monday's explosion should have been preventable.

In the past two months miners had been evacuated three times from the Upper Big Branch mine because of dangerously high methane levels, according to two miners who asked for anonymity for fear of losing their jobs.

The Massey Energy Company, the biggest coal mining business in central Appalachia and the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine, has drawn sharp scrutiny and fines from regulators over its safety and environmental record. The company defended its record after the explosion, but angry local residents claim safety was neglected in the push for higher production.

Massey and its outspoken chief executive, Don L. Blankenship, have long been lightning rods for criticism among environmentalists, labor leaders, and lawmakers, observers said. Blankenship has called congressional Democrats seeking climate-change legislation "greeniacs" and has said, "I don't believe that climate change is real." His opposition to organized mine labor--the Upper Big Branch coal mine is not unionized--has also earned him the enmity of union leaders.

Rescue efforts continued midweek for the missing mineworkers as ventilation holes were drilled to vent enough poisonous gas to safely get inside and look for the missing miners. But hopes were slim. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III described the explosion as "horrific" and state and federal officials said it would be a "miracle" if anyone survived.

The scene was dramatically different in China, where state-run broadcasters gave heavy coverage to the dramatic mine rescue Monday, which also happened to be "tomb-sweeping day," a national holiday to honor the dead.

Hope is fading for 29 other miners still trapped in the flooded Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province. The minors were trapped on March 28 when workers digging tunnels broke into a water-filled abandoned shaft.

A preliminary investigation last week found the mine's managers ignored water leaks before the accident. China's mining industry is the deadliest in the world: Accidents killed 2,631 coal miners last year and a record 6,995 in 2002.

Source: Articles by Ian Urbina and Michael Cooper for the New York Times, Peter Foster for Telegraph.co.uk, Gillan Wong for Associated Press, and Steven Mufson, Jerry Markon, and Ed O'Keefe for the Washington Post