Camera Sees No Signs of Life in Collapsed Mine*

Aug 13, 12:47 PM (ET)

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL

HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) - Another attempt to sink a video camera deep
inside a coal mine where six miners have been trapped since a collapse a
week ago yielded no signs of life, officials said Monday, frustrating
crews trying to find the men.

The camera was paired with better lighting, but still only saw about 15
feet when it was lowered into the mine overnight, said Al Davis, who
oversees Western operations for the federal Mine Safety and Health
Administration. The images that came back included a distorted conveyor
belt and an intact roof.

It was the latest disheartening news for rescuers and relatives of the
missing men. A video camera lowered into the collapsed mine Sunday
revealed equipment, but no sign of the miners. On Monday, crews were
planning to drill a third hole in the hopes of finding them, but
cautioned that the effort could take up to six days.

"I've accepted all possibilites," said an exhausted Cody Allred, the
32-year-old son of missing miner Kerry Allred.

It is still unclear what caused the mine to collapse. Bob Murray, head
of Murray Energy Corp. and co-owner of the mine, has insisted it was
caused by an earthquake but seismologists say there was no earthquake
and that readings on seismometers actually came from the collapse.

One of the four miners who escaped alive said Sunday he didn't feel or
hear a thing as the mountain shook and caved in, trapping six of his
colleagues.

Tim Curtis was near the mine's entrance on Aug. 6 when he got a text
message telling him of the collapse on his PED, or personal emergency
device. The trapped men are believed to be about 3.4 miles from the
mine's entrance.

"Where I was at, I felt nothing," Curtis said in an interview with The
Associated Press. "It's just like you are here and three miles away are
you going to hear a balloon pop?"

Curtis, a 33-year-old third-generation miner who works as a mine fire
boss, or safety inspector, has worked 12-hour shifts every day since the
collapse to aid the rescue effort.

Two holes have already been drilled about 1,800 feet down into the
mountain containing the mine. The first is a 2 1/2-inch wide hole that
rescue crews initially believed drifted during the drilling process into
a neighboring sealed chamber. A microphone dropped into that first hole
heard no sign of the miners and air samples recorded an atmosphere of
only 7 percent oxygen - measurements similar to those known to exist in
a sealed area of the mine and an oxygen level that would not sustain life.

The hole was later determined to be in an active work area, and rescuers
were pumping air down the hole.

A second hole measuring nearly 9 inches allowed crews to lower a camera
into a cavern that officials said showed a "survivable space." But
images were limited and the camera was withdrawn to clear off one lens.

The second attempt to use the camera to get a glimpse of the missing men
was hampered by poor lighting that limited the camera view to only about
15 feet into a 5 1/2-foot-high void at the bottom of the hole, far less
than the 100 feet it's capable of viewing, said Richard Stickler, head
of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Rescuers saw a tool bag, a chain and other items that are normally seen
underground in a mine, he said. "We did not see any sign at all of any
of the miners," Stickler said.

Searchers were set to begin drilling the third hole midday Monday, Davis
said.

Despite the setbacks, rescue leaders said they were proceeding under the
assumption the miners remain alive.

Curtis said the miners likely improvised an emergency plan when all four
entry tunnels near their work site were blocked.

"It's just like your house, if it caught on fire and you have a plan to
get out the window and that window is blocked," Curtis said. "That's
what happened here."

Rescuers have been moving horizontally through the mine to try to reach
the men. Their route was blocked about 2,000 feet from the men and
rubble had been cleared from about 580 feet of the route, Stickler said.

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