February 11, 2009 4:26 PM
- Text
Mine Exec: "We're Going To Get Them"
(CBS/AP)
Hundreds of rescuers broke through walls of rock Monday in a desperate race to reach six coal miners trapped 1,500 feet below ground by a cave-in so powerful authorities initially thought it was an earthquake.
Hours after the collapse, which did not appear related to an explosion, searchers had been unable to contact the miners and could not say whether they were dead or alive. If they survived, a mine executive said, they could have enough air and water to last several days.
"We're going to get them," said Robert E. Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp. of Cleveland, a part owner of the Crandall Canyon mine. "There is nothing on my mind right now except getting those miners out."
The mining crew was believed to be about four miles from the mine entrance. Rescuers were working to free the men by drilling into the mine vertically from the mountaintop and horizontally from the side, Murray said. Officials estimated that drilling vertically could take three days.
If they are able to open an old mine shaft, Murray said, rescuers believe they can get within 100 feet of where the men are trapped.
"The idea is to get a hole into where they are," Murray said. "They could be in a chamber 1,000 feet long or they could be dead. We just don't know right now."
The miners were engaged in "retreat mining," one of the riskiest and increasingly rare forms of coal extraction, which involves burrowing into the vein, leaving pillars of coal to support the roof, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. Once they've exhausted the area, miners retreat, collecting the coal pillars as they go and allowing the roof to fall in a "planned collapse."
Davitt McAteer, a former federal state mine official, did a study showing that retreat mining causes a unusually high percentage of roof falls and fatalities and predicts this collapse will lead to a review, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.
Doug Johnson, director of corporate services at an affiliated company, UtahAmerican Energy, said rescuers had made "decent progress," but they were not much closer to the men.
Relatives of the miners waited for news at a nearby senior center. Many of the relatives don't speak English, so Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon hugged them, put her hands over her heart and then clasped them together to let them know she was praying for them, she said.
"Past experience tells us these things don't go very well," said Gordon, whose husband is a former miner.
Federal mine safety inspectors, who have issued more than 300 citations against the mine since January 2004, are also on hand to help oversee the search.
Murray said no expense would be spared to save the men. The company had enlisted the help of 200 employees and four rescue crews, and brought in all available equipment from around the state.
The mine is built into a mountain in the rugged Manti-La Sal National Forest, 140 miles south of Salt Lake City, in a sparsely populated area.
Hours after the collapse, which did not appear related to an explosion, searchers had been unable to contact the miners and could not say whether they were dead or alive. If they survived, a mine executive said, they could have enough air and water to last several days.
"We're going to get them," said Robert E. Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp. of Cleveland, a part owner of the Crandall Canyon mine. "There is nothing on my mind right now except getting those miners out."
The mining crew was believed to be about four miles from the mine entrance. Rescuers were working to free the men by drilling into the mine vertically from the mountaintop and horizontally from the side, Murray said. Officials estimated that drilling vertically could take three days.
If they are able to open an old mine shaft, Murray said, rescuers believe they can get within 100 feet of where the men are trapped.
"The idea is to get a hole into where they are," Murray said. "They could be in a chamber 1,000 feet long or they could be dead. We just don't know right now."
The miners were engaged in "retreat mining," one of the riskiest and increasingly rare forms of coal extraction, which involves burrowing into the vein, leaving pillars of coal to support the roof, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. Once they've exhausted the area, miners retreat, collecting the coal pillars as they go and allowing the roof to fall in a "planned collapse."
Davitt McAteer, a former federal state mine official, did a study showing that retreat mining causes a unusually high percentage of roof falls and fatalities and predicts this collapse will lead to a review, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.
Doug Johnson, director of corporate services at an affiliated company, UtahAmerican Energy, said rescuers had made "decent progress," but they were not much closer to the men.
Relatives of the miners waited for news at a nearby senior center. Many of the relatives don't speak English, so Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon hugged them, put her hands over her heart and then clasped them together to let them know she was praying for them, she said.
"Past experience tells us these things don't go very well," said Gordon, whose husband is a former miner.
Federal mine safety inspectors, who have issued more than 300 citations against the mine since January 2004, are also on hand to help oversee the search.
Murray said no expense would be spared to save the men. The company had enlisted the help of 200 employees and four rescue crews, and brought in all available equipment from around the state.
The mine is built into a mountain in the rugged Manti-La Sal National Forest, 140 miles south of Salt Lake City, in a sparsely populated area.
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Scott Conroy Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.
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