Evening Echo: News
The search for six miners missing deep underground in the US was abruptly halted after a second cave-in killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others trying to tunnel through rubble to reach them.
Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon said: “It just feels like a really hard blow to swallow after all we’ve been through the last week and a half and everyone trying to hope in their own individual way.
The setback yesterday came on the 11th day of the effort to find six miners who have been confined at least 1,500 feet below ground at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah state. It was unknown if the six were alive.
All rescue workers were evacuated from the mine and work underground was stopped...
“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,” said Bob Murray, chief of Murray Energy Corp., the co-owner and operator of the Crandall Canyon mine.
Mining rescues after 10 or more days aren't unheard of. Two miners were rescued in May 2006 after being trapped for 14 days following a collapse at an Australian mine. In 1968, six miners were rescued after 10 days in West Virginia. But the Aug. 6 cave-in released low-oxygen air into the working area of the mine. Downward pressure on the walls sent chunks of coal flying like bullets through the shaft.
Discussion: When do you stop a rescue effort?
