This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

PRICE -- No question, it was a relief to get some definitive word about why their loved ones died last August in the Crandall Canyon mine.

But there was still little sense of closure for several victims' families after they were briefed for five hours Thursday about MSHA's disaster investigation.

"It's like scratching an old wound, tearing off a scab," said Frank Allred, whose brother Kerry died in the mine's catastrophic collapse on Aug. 6. "I thought I was over it, but . . . "

Kristin Kimber Tiller also had mixed feelings after listening to MSHA's account of what led to the Aug. 16 death of rescuer Brandon Kimber, her ex-husband and the father of her three young children.

"It was a lot of stuff we already knew, but it was nice to learn the details," she said, quickly backtracking with the admission she was "actually sadder to know . . . the severity of it, the pictures that showed how it looked, that what they were working with was terrifically horrible."

Now, Tiller said, "people need to be held accountable for their actions and decisions."

That includes MSHA officials, said Nancy Allred, Frank's wife. "There was nothing indicating any fault by MSHA and I just can't believe it," she said, hours before an independent Labor Department review of MSHA harshly criticized the agency's handling of Crandall Canyon's mining plan.

Like the others, Cesar Sanchez appreciated having facts down on paper that substantiated the rumors and innuendo that have abounded since his brother Manny was entombed by the Aug. 6 implosion of the mine's walls.

"I wanted the truth," he said. But he also knows the publication of the two disaster reports doesn't mean this sad saga is over and that "this is going to drag on for awhile. It's all disappointing."

With the reports coming out so close to the disaster's one-year anniversary, these are tough times for the families, said Colin King, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the heirs of the six trapped miners and two of the injured rescuers.

"There is sadness, pain, dread and some relief that this is past them," he said. "They were intensely interested in what MSHA had to say."

And King believes that what MSHA said fully supports the allegations in his clients' lawsuit against Crandall Canyon's owners, operators and consultants.

"It condemns those in a position to change the course of events," he said, adding that the families applauded MSHA's proposed fines of $1.85 million against the operator and its roof-control consultant. "We hope it will be effective" in compelling mining companies to put safety at the forefront "so others are not put through what these poor people went through."