Our hearts go out to those who wait for news of their loved ones at Gleision Colliery in South Wales and right now the focus of attention must rightly be the rescue efforts currently underway.
There are a number of people in South Wales however who are telling us that this tragedy is not wholly unexpected. One such has posted on Twitter.
Peter Hain et al knew five years ago that the explosives used in the LNG Project on top of the site would distort water levels.
This tweeter is referring to the fact that a gas pipeline has been built, stretching from Milford Haven, through Wales and out to England. The construction was forced through by the Labour government,in the face of enormous protests and warnings that the project had potentially dangerous consequences.
Evidence of the distortion of the water levels was found less than two miles away from Gleision, when a portion of a mountain at Pontardawe collapsed as a result of The National Grid tampering with old mine workings and disrupting old water tables, even affecting the water supply to highland farms.
One farmer who once had a plentiful supply of water on his farm, supplying all the farm's needs and those of his livestock, lost his water supply and had to rely on his water being supplied by tankers,as a result of the National Grid using explosives during the construction project.
Was it the water which once supplied that farm which deluged the old mine workings and caused the earlier collapse at Pontardawe?
To what extent was the water table above Gleision Collliery affected by the use of explosives by National Grid?
And is this why the Labour spin machine has gone into overdrive in south Wales?