USA: Six miners trapped for 7th day in collapsed Utah mine

Residents of Huntington and family members of six miners trapped 1,800 feet below the surface in a collapsed Utah mine continue to hope and pray that the men are still alive on Sunday (August 12). Rescuers searching for the trapped coal miners plan to bore a third hole into the collapsed mine after another attempt to locate them with a camera failed, officials said. Miners burrowing out an escape route big enough for a person had to temporarily abandon their efforts twice overnight as seismic "bumps" shook the new horizontal tunnel. Many milestones in the weeklong rescue operation have taken longer than expected, and rescuers have stopped making projections about when the holes being drilled into the rock would reach their goals. "Our attitude is that we always have to have hope. That's the position we're taking, is that we're hoping and we're praying and it would be a terrible mistake to ever give up hope until you know for sure," said Richard Stickler, U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration Chief at a news conference. Families of the six miners were shown dark sketchy images on Sunday morning from a camera lowered a second time into the mine, Huntington City Councilwoman Julie Jones told Reuters. Stickler told the news conference that there were some signs of miners, including an unidentified miner's tool bag, a conveyor belt and reflectors. However, the images taken about 1,800 feet (550 metres), or about a third of mile, below the surface, showed no farther than about 15 feet (4.5 metres). He said rescuers would try to look again with more light. The miners have not been heard from since Monday, when part of the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, collapsed. "So many of us together as a family that we're there to support each other so, we're doing OK," said Manuel Sanchez, cousin of one of the trapped men. The first two holes drilled into the mine have failed to produce any signs of life, although the second area where the camera penetrated had "survivable space," officials have said. Preparations for the third bore hole will be completed late on Sunday. The drill must grind through 1,414 feet (430 metre) of earth to an area where miners may have retreated when they found no exit, or if conditions deteriorated. The third hole will have a nearly 9-inch (23-cm) diameter, which is big enough for an exploratory camera, food and water to pass into the cavern. Rescue workers looked tired but determined as they laid out their next set of priorities. Stickler said he knew of one instance of a trapped miner lasting 11 days, and Murray told Reuters there were still plenty of ways they could survive.

ITN Source | August 13, 2007

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