Thursday, April 22, 2010

"Ohio Mom, Mystery Man Found in Miami Beach"

Over the weekend (April 17-18) a 31 year old southwestern Ohio mother and her one year old daughter went missing. The mother, Tiffany Tehan, had taken her daughter with her to go to a shopping trip for the day. The mother was found in Miami Beach, Florida today (April 22). She is safe and has been in contact with her family. The day after her disappearance, her vehicle was found abandoned near a skate park with a flat tire. In a surveillance video from a local convenience store she was seen with a man during the months of March and April. The man had also been missing for a few days, he was also found in Miami Beach. The man was not someone that the rest of Tehan's (the missing woman's) family knew. However, the video shows that the missing woman and man appeared to have known each other and they had been seen at that location multiple other times.

This is an interesting story. I am slightly confused though. At the beginning of the article they say that the woman had taken her one year old daughter with her when she left to go on the shopping trip, but later on they do not mention anything about the daughter being missing, they only say that the woman was missing. Also, when I say a segment on the news about this story, they mentioned nothing about a missing child. They did show Tehan's family and her husband was holding a little girl, obviously their daughter, but I did not catch the age. My guess is that the article is mistaken when saying that the woman brought her daughter with her on the shopping trip. I am very glad that the police were able to find her. I know they were showing pictures taken from the surveillance video showing her with the man. The man to me seems to be a suspicious character in this story. So since roughly a month ago, the two were seen more than once at a convenience store, then, when the woman was reported missing, the police found her vehicle with a flat tire (meaning she was possibly taken or set up, etc.) and finally, the man had also been missing for a couple of days but was found in Miami Beach- the exact place Tehan was found. I would call that very suspicious. I hope they figure out all of the missing clues to this story and a follow up is released. It will be interesting to find out what happened in this story. I guess time will tell...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

"China Rescues 115 from Flooded Mine"

On March 28, 2010, the Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province China flooded by underground water. More than a week after this flood, 115 miners were pulled out of the mine alive. They were taken out wrapped in blankets on stretchers and taken to waiting ambulances, they were said to have been in stable condition. There were a total of 261 workers in the mine when it flooded, 108 men were able to be reach immediately, after the 115 were pulled out, there were another 38 believed to be in the mine. Two days before the major rescue, tapping was heard from inside the mine and the night before the rescue swaying lamp lights were said to have been seen. Some of the miners thought smartly and attached their belts to the shaft walls when the water first began to rush in. After three days of suspending there, a mining cart floated by and they jumped inside. There was a total of 50 rescue groups including 200 people. This is not a first for China, in 2009 there were 2,631 people who died in mining accidents.

I think it's a miracle that so many of the miners were able to be rescued after such a long time in the mine. More than a week is an extremely long time to be anywhere where you have no food, safe drinkable water and the conditions are unsafe. So for the men to be safe is a miracle. I'm guessing that the mine must not have been completely full with water- obviously for the men to have survived they would have needed to breath oxygen- but I'm also guessing that the water must have been higher then the mens' hight considering that when the article described the way some of them attached their belts then later jumped into the mining cart, it said that the men "remained suspended for three days." I also wish to know if the other 38 men who were believed to still be in the mine after the initial 108 and then the 115 featured in this article, were rescued or not. Aside from those who were being rescued, an honor goes out to those who were doing the rescuing. For more than 200 people to be working to help the men inside is awesome. Finally, going to the last part of the article, it's hard to believe that, with 2,631 people having died last year in mining accidents and that being a lower number than other years, that they don't have stricter guidelines, regulations and procedures for the mines in China. The article mentioned that they are setting a campaign to inspect the safety regulations, but this has been going on for years. I don't understand why they haven't made changes before now.