Daniele Bennett cries after learning that her father was one of the coal miners killed in the Sago mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia. (AFP)

Tallmansville (West Virginia), Jan. 4 (Reuters): Only one man survived after an explosion in a West Virginia coal mine, a mine official said today, transforming joy into grief and anger just hours after a mistaken report emerged that 12 of 13 missing miners were still alive 40 hours after the blast.

Ben Hatfield, president of mine owner International Coal Group Inc., blamed the earlier report on “miscommunication” and said that the company had then waited until it could determine which of the miners were dead or alive to tell the families their fate.

Anne Meredith, whose father died in the incident, said: “I feel that we were lied to all along.”

Virginia Dean, whose uncle was in the Sago mine in central West Virginia, reacted by saying: “Only one lived. They lied.”

The explosion took place when the Sago mine was reopening after being closed for the holidays. The men had been trapped some 4,000 metres inside the mine