Utah Miners

[Tara]

I don't know if anyone is keeping up with this story but one of the rescue workers died tonight.  :((


Rescue Worker Killed at Utah Mine
By Associated Press
2 hours ago

HUNTINGTON, Utah - A disastrous cave-in Thursday night killed a rescue worker and injured at least eight others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach six trapped miners, authorities said.

It was a shocking setback on the 11th day of the effort to find miners who have been confined at least 1,500 feet below ground at the Crandall Canyon mine. It's unknown whether the six are alive or dead.

"All rescue workers have been evacuated from the mine. Nine rescue workers were injured in the accident. One of those suffered fatal injuries," said Dirk Fillpot, a spokesman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) _ A seismic "bump" in a coal mine injured nine people working to find trapped miners, sending at least four rescue workers to hospitals, authorities said.

One rescue worker was in very serious condition at Castleview Hospital, and two were in serious condition there, said Jeff Manley, hospital chief executive.

At least one rescue worker was flown from the Crandall Canyon mine to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, said Jess Gomez, a spokesman for Salt Lake City's LDS Hospital, which dispatches medical helicopters in Utah.

"It is believed that the accident was caused by a bump. ... We are in the process of doing a head count to ensure that everyone is accounted for," said Dirk Fillpot, spokesman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A bump commonly refers to pressure inside the mine that shoots coal from the walls with great force, which seismologists believe caused the Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped six men inside the central Utah mine.

A "final count" determined that nine workers were injured, he said. The agency had earlier said at least 10 were injured. The bump occurred about 8:30 p.m. EDT.

Family members of miners, many in tears, gathered at the mine's front entrance looking for news.

A Crandall Canyon mine employee, Donnie Leonard, said he was outside the mine when he heard a manager "yelling about a cave-in."

It was not immediately clear where the injured people were working or what they were doing when they were hurt. Crews have been drilling holes from the top of the mountain to try to find the six missing miners while others were tunneling through a debris-filled entry to the mine.

Underground, the miners had advanced to only 826 feet in nine days. Mining officials said that conditions were treacherous, and that they were frequently forced to halt digging because of seismic activity. A day after the initial collapse, the rescuers were pushed back 300 feet when a bump shook the mountain and filled the tunnel with rubble.

Before Thursday's event, workers still had about 1,200 feet to go to reach the area where they believe the trapped men had been working.

The digging had already been set back Wednesday night when a coal excavating machine was half buried by rubble by seismic shaking. Another mountain bump interrupted work briefly Thursday morning.

"The seismic activity underground has just been relentless. The mountain is still alive, the mountain is still moving and we cannot endanger the rescue workers as we drive toward these trapped miners," Bob Murray, chief of Murray Energy Corp., the co-owner and operator of the Crandall Canyon Mine, said earlier Thursday.

Murray has become more reticent to predict when the excavation would be complete. At the current rate, it figures to take several more days.

On top of the mountain, rescuers were drilling a fourth hole, aiming for a spot where they had detected mysterious vibrations in the mountain.

Officials said Thursday that the latest of three holes previously drilled reached an intact chamber with potentially breathable air.

Video images were obscured by water running down that bore hole, but officials said they could see beyond it to an undamaged chamber in the rear of the mine. It yielded no sign the miners had been there.

Murray said it would take at least two days for the latest drill to reach its target, in an area where a seismic listening device detected a "noise" or vibration in 1.5-second increments and lasting for five minutes.

Officials say it's impossible to know what caused the vibrations and on Thursday clarified the limits of the technology.

The device, called a geophone, can pinpoint the direction of the source of the disturbance, but it can't tell whether it came from within the mine, the layers of rock above the mine or from the mountain's surface, said Richard Stickler, chief of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The "noise," a term he used a day before, wasn't anything officials could hear, Stickler said. "Really, it's not sounds but vibrations."

[TmT]

Im keepin up with it... ((sent you PM))

[Tara]

Two more rescue workers die.  :$%

[TmT]

 :'(( Yeah, its disturbin, very disturbin to start your day knowin 3 men have sacrificed their lives to try to rescue someone else and 6 men are injured (unknown to what extent).

[swamp]

 :( thats so sad these guys are bustin there butts to get the other guys out and this happens  :'(( :$%

[Tara]

They've called the search off indefinitely. :((

Search for Utah Miners Is Suspended
By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer
43 minutes ago

HUNTINGTON, Utah - The desperate underground drive to reach six trapped miners was suspended indefinitely Friday after a catastrophic cave-in killed three rescuers inside a mountainside mine that keeps shaking.

The announcement from Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, came after a cave-in Thursday killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach them. The initial cave-in occurred Aug. 6.

"Is there any possible way we can continue this underground operation and provide safety for the rescue workers? At this point we don't have an answer," Stickler said.

The cave-in at 6:39 p.m. was believed to be caused by what seismologists call a "mountain bump," in which shifting ground forces chunks of rock from the walls. Seismologists say such a bump caused the Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped the six men more than 3 miles inside the central Utah mine.

The force from the bump registered a 1.6 at the University of Utah seismograph stations in Salt Lake City, said university spokesman Lee Siegel. It was the 20th reading at the university since the original collapse, which registered a 3.9 on Aug. 6.

[kandykitty20012]

This whole situation is very very sad..... 0: go out to all those who lost their lives and also to their families.

[gator8_24]

CNN had a video of that last 'bump' as one of their reporters and crew was in the mine at the same time

[Tara]

HUNTINGTON, Utah - Despite three weeks of drilling and digging that have revealed no signs of life from six men trapped inside a collapsed coal mine, officials said Sunday the search was continuing.

Federal and mine company officials said a seventh borehole was being punched into the Crandall Canyon mine and that a special robotic camera was being lowered into a hole drilled during previous efforts to find the men.

The camera is similar to one used to search within the wreckage of the World Trade Center in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It can take images in the darkened cavern from about 50 feet away with the help of a 200-watt light, can travel 1,000 feet from the end of the test hole and has some ability to move around the rubble, officials said.

"We're very excited about it. The families are thrilled to hear this," said Colin King, a lawyer for the miners' families.