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Second Drill Penetrates Utah Mine

After failed attempt, equipment reaches chamber believed to hold trapped men

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 11, 2007 8:13 AM CDT

(Newser) – A second drill has reached the chamber where rescuers believe six Utah miners are trapped, opening up the possibility that a video camera will reveal whether the men are alive. The new hole, wider than the first, punched through at 3am today, the AP reports, and images are expected later. Meanwhile, neighbors and loved ones held a candlelight vigil.

The first hole into the chamber penetrated an area with oxygen levels below breathable and silence on a lowered microphone. Rescuers now believe that drill went off course, into an older, abandoned shaft, and maintain hope that the men are alive. If they are, workers will lower food and water through the new hole while they finish digging an escape tunnel.

Kelsee Thomas, right, with her grandmother Marcie Zwahlen hold a candle as members of the community turned out Friday night, Aug. 10, 2007, in Huntington, Utah, for a candlelight vigil for the six trapped miners in the Crandall Canyon Mine.  (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Trent Nelson)
Kelsee Thomas, right, with her grandmother Marcie Zwahlen hold a candle as members of the community turned out Friday night, Aug. 10, 2007, in Huntington, Utah, for a candlelight vigil for the six trapped...   (Associated Press)
Miners walk out of the San Martin zinc mine after a tour with reporters, in the town of San Martin in the northern state of Zacatecas, Mexico, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. A Mexican labor board has ordered striking miners to return to work at three mines, including this one but...
Miners walk out of the San Martin zinc mine after a tour with reporters, in the town of San Martin in the northern state of Zacatecas, Mexico, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. A Mexican labor board has ordered...   (Associated Press)
The entrance of the tunnel at the Crandall Canyon Mine where six coal miners are trapped is shown Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, northwest of Huntington, Utah. The collapse is located just over three miles from the surface. (AP Photo/Pool/Rick Bowmer)
The entrance of the tunnel at the Crandall Canyon Mine where six coal miners are trapped is shown Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, northwest of Huntington, Utah. The collapse is located just over three miles...   (Associated Press)
Robert Murray, founder and chairman of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp., points to rubble blocking a tunnel in the Crandall Canyon Mine where six coal miners are trapped Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, northwest of Huntington, Utah. The collapse is located just over three miles from the surface. (AP Photo/Pool/Rick Bowmer)
Robert Murray, founder and chairman of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp., points to rubble blocking a tunnel in the Crandall Canyon Mine where six coal miners are trapped Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, northwest...   (Associated Press)
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