TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (AP) – In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members were told early yesterday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners were dead – three hours after they began celebrating the news that they were alive.

The sole survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition with a collapsed lung and dehydration but no sign of brain damage or carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped by an explosion for more than 42 hours, a doctor said. At 27, McCloy was among the youngest in the group.

The last of the 12 bodies were taken out of the mine at midmorning.

Most of the 13 coal miners apparently survived the blast itself, retreated deeper into the mine and hung up a curtain-like barrier to keep out deadly gases while they waited to be rescued, officials said yesterday.

One of the dead was found at least 700 feet (210 metres) from where the others had barricaded themselves, apparently killed by the force of the blast, said Ben Hatfield, chief executive of mine owner International Coal Group.

It was the deadliest US coal mining disaster in more than four years.

The devastating new information about the dead shocked and angered family members, who had rejoiced with Gov Joe Manchin hours earlier when a report began to spread that 12 miners were alive. Bystanders applauded as they saw McCloy brought from the mine early yesterday, not realising he would be the only one to come out alive.

“I can only say there was no one who did anything intentionally other than risk their lives to save their loved ones,” Manchin told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“No one can say anything about it that would make anything any better,” he said. “Just a horrible situation.”

McCloy, who officials said was found in the same area as the other men, was unconscious but moaning when he arrived at a hospital, the hospital said.

McCloy was transferred to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Morgantown. Doctors said he was under sedation and on a ventilator to aid his breathing and there was no immediate sign of brain damage. Most of the other miners were in their 50s, and doctors said that McCloy’s youth may have helped him survive.

The 13 miners had been trapped 260 feet (80 metres) below the surface of the Sago Mine in central West Virginia since an explosion early Monday. As rescue workers tried to get to the men, families waited at the Sago Baptist Church during a gruelling two-day vigil.

But late Tuesday night, families began streaming out of the church, yelling “They’re alive!” The church bells began ringing and families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent rescue a miracle.

Though the governor announced that there were 12 survivors, he later indicated he was uncertain about the news.

Hatfield blamed the wrong information on a “miscommunication.” The news spread after people overheard cell phone calls, he said. In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs. At least two family members in the church said they received cell phone calls from a mine foreman.

Three hours later, Hatfield told the families that “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” said John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners.

Chaos broke out in the church and a fight started. About a dozen state troopers and a SWAT team were positioned along the road near the church because police were concerned about violence. Witnesses said one man had to be wrestled to the ground when he lunged for mining officials.

Company officials waited to correct the information until they knew more about the rescue, Hatfield said. “Let’s put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn’t know if there were 12 or one alive”, Hatfield said.

It was the worst US coal mining disaster since a pair of explosions tore through a mine in Brookwood, Alabama, on September 23, 2001, killing 13.

Federal Labour Department officials promised an investigation. Acting Assistant Secretary David Dye, who heads the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said it will include “how emergency information was relayed about the trapped miners’ conditions.”