HARLAN, Ky. — Dozens of mourners packed into a small Appalachian church Thursday to remember one of five miners killed in an underground explosion, while investigators began mapping areas inside the mine in search of answers.

Friends like the Rev. Doug Daniel recalled working alongside Roy Middleton as a coal miner several years ago and said they sang church hymns as they worked deep underground.

"Me and Roy talked about heaven a lot," he said before leading about 75 mourners in song.

Paul Ledford, the lone survivor of Saturday's blast, watched the service quietly from the doorway of the church, where the Rev. Sonny Dean said the miner had been "sheltered by the hand of the Lord."

Ledford attended all five funerals, including one Thursday night for Amon Brock, 51.

The Rev. Frank Howard, speaking at Brock's funeral in Harlan, acknowledged that the deaths have taken a major toll on the close-knit community. Coal miners "pull together, they stick together when they're hurting," he said.

Howard said Brock loved to work, whether it was at home in his yard or hundreds of feet underground in a coal mine. "He just enjoyed life," Howard said.

The miners were killed following an explosion at Darby Mine No. 1 on Saturday. According to preliminary reports, Middleton, George Petra, 49, and Paris Thomas Jr., 53, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Brock and Jimmy D. Lee, 33, were killed by blunt force and heat injuries.

Officials with the state Office of Mine Safety and Licensing returned to the blast site and started mapping debris patterns and the location of tools and other equipment.

Lingering methane and carbon monoxide gases in the mine had slowed the investigation this week, state officials said.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said the mine was given 11 citations in a three-day span just days before the blast.

Among the citations were a handful considered "significant and substantial," meaning they were reasonably likely to lead to injury. One of the citations was issued for having combustible materials in sections of the mine in the form of "oil, oil-soaked fine coal and coal dust," according to the report.

There were also some minor violations, including problems with a shuttle car and a conveyor-belt sprinkler.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who has said he plans to call a special session this year to deal with a plan to modify state taxes on small businesses, said he is open to adding mine safety to the agenda, but added that he won't know whether that is necessary until he knows more about what happened.