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Rescuers See 'Survivable Space' in Mine

Attempts to communicate with miners met by 'heartbreaking' silence

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 11, 2007 4:40 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A camera lowered into a Utah mine where six men are stranded showed a 5 1/2-foot “survivable space” today but little else, the AP reports.  Rescuers pulled out the video camera to protect it from flowing water and install another lens, hoping for a wider angle on the cavity—while another, smaller hole was being used to pump oxygen into the nearly airless mine.

Trying to communicate with the missing miners, workers struck the drill steel several times while it was lowered into the crawlspace but got no answer. "It was heartbreaking," said a mine geologist on the scene. Workers are now installing a steel casing in the well so they can lower the camera again and keep it protected from running water.

Robert Murray, president and chief executive of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp., sits before addressing reporters at the command post in full miners gear Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, in Huntington, Utah. A video camera lowered into a mine where six miners have been missing for more than five days shows survivable...
Robert Murray, president and chief executive of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp., sits before addressing reporters at the command post in full miners gear Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, in Huntington, Utah....   (Associated Press)
Tomas Hernandez, the uncle of trapped miner Luis Hernandez, is interviewed by reporters after the morning update with Crandall Canyon Mine owner Robert Murray at Canyon View Junior High School in Huntington, Utah, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007. A video camera lowered into a shattered coal mine where six miners have...
Tomas Hernandez, the uncle of trapped miner Luis Hernandez, is interviewed by reporters after the morning update with Crandall Canyon Mine owner Robert Murray at Canyon View Junior High School in Huntington,...   (Associated Press)
Mike Glasson, a geologist with UtahAmerican Energy, speaks to reporters Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, at the command post for the Crandall Canyon Mine rescue effort in Huntington, Utah. A video camera lowered into a shattered coal mine where six miners have been missing for more than five days has found...
Mike Glasson, a geologist with UtahAmerican Energy, speaks to reporters Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, at the command post for the Crandall Canyon Mine rescue effort in Huntington, Utah. A video camera lowered...   (Associated Press)
Robert Murray, founder and chairman of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp, is viewed on a television monitor as he is interviewed while wearing his mine outfit Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, at the entrance to the Crandall Canyon Mine northwest of Huntington, Utah. Six coal miners have been trapped inside since Monday....
Robert Murray, founder and chairman of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp, is viewed on a television monitor as he is interviewed while wearing his mine outfit Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007, at the entrance...   (Associated Press)
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