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Police: Sago Mine suffers suicide tragedy

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(CNN) -- Two men who worked at West Virginia's Sago Mine during the January disaster that killed 12 miners have committed suicide in the past month, state police said Tuesday.

John Nelson Boni, 63, fatally shot himself Saturday, and William Lee "Flea" Chisolm, 47, shot himself to death August 29, said State Police Capt M.J. Trupo.

The men did not leave suicide notes, Trupo said.

Boni and Chisolm were working at the Sago Mine on January 2 when an explosion trapped 13 miners in the mine shaft, according to testimony they gave before the West Virginia Mine Safety and Health Division earlier this year. Only one of the miners trapped by the blast, Randal McCloy, survived.

Neither man was still employed at the mine at the time of their deaths, and neither was blamed for the disaster, The Associated Press reported.

CNN could not reach a representative of International Coal Group, which owns the mine, to confirm Boni's and Chisolm's employment.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin issued a statement saying, "My heart goes out to those who have been impacted by these deaths, as well as to all the miners and their families who are still dealing with the memories and the aftermath of Sago."

"While we cannot be certain at this time of the exact reasons behind these latest fatalities, we must continue to do everything possible to learn from Sago and to improve our mine safety processes so that no one else will have to experience these types of struggles in the future."

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Sago Mine, seen here in January, was the site of an explosion that led to the deaths of 12 miners.

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