Indeed, this is a terribly sad time for the loved ones of the miners - and their communities...
It is unfortunate, that the hopes of the families were so strongly reinforced - when from the outset all the physical and chemical signs at the mine suggested that the miners' survival was unlikely...
Unlike gold mines, coal mines are inherently volatile environments and the rescue and recovery organisers were right not to risk further lives in a futile rescue attempt - but the cruelly-dashed hope has intensified the anger component of the grief...
Then again, if not for the belated closure brought by the second explosion, the anguish of the loved ones would probably have been drawn out even more - as they would each have been gradually forced to try to face the harsh realities in their own time, after being given false hope for several days, and at a time when they were extra-stressed and over-tired...
The Moura families never not so far down the track, in coming to accept the inevitably of their loss, as the second explosion there occurred much closer to the original one - they were therefore spared the false hope of a drawn-out rescue - and I expect that they have ultimately faired far better in their grieving than their Pike River family counterparts ever will...
My heart goes out to the loved ones - and may the lost miners all rest in peace