国际英语新闻：Obama eulogizes miners, promises safety enhancement

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday promised to take steps to enhance mine safety, saying the government's task is to "save lives from being lost," and "to assure safe conditions underground."

Obama made the remarks in a eulogy delivered at Beckley Raleigh County convention center in West Virginia, commemorating 29 miners who perished at the Upper Big Branch Mine in the worst coal mining disaster in more than a quarter of a century in the United States.

"We cannot bring back the 29 men we lost," he said. "Our task .. . is to save lives from being lost in another such tragedy. To do what must be done ... to assure safe conditions underground."

U.S. President Barack Obama attends a memorial service for the 29 men, killed on April 5 in the worst US mining disaster in decades, at the Beckley-Raleigh Country Convention Center in Backley, West Virginia, April 25,2010.

A huge explosion occurred on April 5 at the Massey Energy owned mine, killing the miners underground. Obama praised rescue efforts after the explosion, saying rescuers risked their own safety to scour "narrow tunnels saturated with methane and carbon monoxide."