Mine rescuers may have missed mark
HUNTINGTON, Utah Rescuers drilling a tiny hole nearly 1,900 feet deep to make contact with six coal miners caught in a cave-in four days ago might have missed and punched into a neighboring chamber, officials said Friday.
An initial air sample taken through the hole indicated enough oxygen to support life, but later readings showed dangerously low levels known to exist in a sealed chamber next to the one the miners were thought to be trapped in, said Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
A microphone dropped down the 2Q-inch-wide borehole picked up no evidence the men had survived, Stickler said.
But rescuers expected a second, wider hole that could accommodate a camera, food and water to be finished by Friday night, he said.
“There’s no reason to lose hope. There are certain possibilities that these miners are still alive,” Stickler said.
3 killed in Indiana accident
PRINCETON, Ind. An accident at an air shaft under construction in a southern Indiana coal mine killed three people Friday, police said. Detective Mike Hurt said the people died in a basket used to transport people up and down a 600-foot air shaft, but he could not say whether they fell. Authorities did not believe there had been a cave-in or an explosion, he said. Crews were working to remove the bodies at Gibson County Coal after the late-morning accident, Sgt. Jay Riley said.
