Simply horrible. In what amounts to the worst American mining disaster since 1984, twenty-five miners have been killed due to a coal mine explosion in West Virginia. Four individuals remain missing but rescue attempts have, for the moment, been halted.

Update: As of 2:28 AM ET this is still on the front page of Massey Energy’s website. Someone at Massey should have the web team remove it.

Not appropriate right now.

Update X2: Massey says the rescue operations have been suspended due to underground conditions, but they’ll continue after the situation improves.

“Tonight we mourn the deaths of our members at Massey Energy,” said Don Blankenship. “I want to offer my condolences to the miners’ families who lost loved ones at Upper Big Branch. And I want to thank the rescue teams and the Massey members who continue to work hard on behalf of our miners and their families.”

The company confirms twenty-five deaths and four missing individuals. The mine in question is the Upper Big Branch facility.

CNN, meanwhile, seems a bit disconnected from reality. Larry King seems somewhat disturbed by the fact that a mining company is operating with the profit motive in mind. Well, yes, that’s what companies do. CNN isn’t exactly a charity, either.