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Official: Utah miners likely entombed
By Chelsea J. Carter and Jennifer Dobner
Associated Press
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CASTLE DALE, Utah -- Cody Allred closes his eyes and pictures his father and five other miners sitting in the impenetrable darkness of a collapsed mine waiting for a sign, any sign of rescue. "I picture my dad wondering `Where the hell are they? Any time now,'" he said.

Federal and mine officials are less hopeful. Knowing there has been no sign of life since the men went missing more than two weeks ago, they say the miners may be forever entombed in the mountain.

"I don't know whether the miners will be found, but I'm not optimistic they will be found alive," Bob Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., co-owner of the mine, said at a news conference Monday night.

Even as the community prepared Tuesday to say goodbye to Dale Black, a rescuer killed while trying to find the men in central Utah's Crandall Canyon mine, the families and officials were at odds over whether enough had been done.

Searchers were expected to finish drilling a fifth hole by Tuesday night, but federal officials didn't anticipate air readings that would indicate enough oxygen to support life.

Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said safety consultants brought in over the weekend have determined the shaking and shifting of the mountain is too risky to let rescuers resume tunneling to try to reach the men, who have been trapped since the Aug. 6 cave-in.

The tunneling stopped after three rescue workers were killed and six were injured when the shaft they were working in collapsed Thursday night.

Murray, who disappeared from public view after that collapse, met Monday with miners' relatives who have accused him of abandoning them and their loved ones.

He said he told the families their relatives would likely remain buried in the mine. "Their reception to me was probably not good. But at some time, the reality must sink in, and I did it as compassionately as I possibly could," he said.

Family members say they have been frustrated by the pace of the rescue effort and by mine and federal safety officials who have backtracked from early information about the missing miners' location.

"We were asking them questions and not getting straight answers," said Cesar Sanchez, whose brother Manuel Sanchez is among the missing.

Families have pleaded for the use of a rescue capsule that could be lowered through a 30-inch hole that could take weeks to drill.

"We need to get that big hole punched to get them big men out," Cesar Sanchez said.

The capsule had been considered a last, best option since the rescue tunnel collapsed. Such capsules have been used to save miners in other disasters, but the men in the Crandall Canyon mine were thought to be more than 1,000 feet deeper than in previous rescues.

Bob Ferriter, a former MSHA engineer who teaches safety at the Colorado School of Mines, said it wouldn't make sense to spend weeks drilling a large hole for a rescue capsule unless searchers knew where the men were located.

Ferriter said it would be foolish to send a man down a capsule to recover the miners' bodies, given the instability of the mountain and the depth of the hole. There's a chance the capsule could get stuck or that a mountain "bump" could bury the capsule. The air might be inadequate as well, Ferriter said.

"I don't see the advantage of putting a live person down there," Ferriter said. "You could have a bump that closes the hole above him, and then you've lost another guy."

But Steve Allred, the brother of trapped miner Kerry Allred, believes his brother is alive and said the men need to be recovered.

"My brother is trapped underground and I'm hearing that they're basically giving up, and that's unacceptable," he said. "One way or the other we've got to have closure."

For nearly two weeks, mine owners and federal officials had insisted the men might be alive. But repeated efforts to signal the miners have been met with silence, and air readings from a fourth narrow hole drilled more than 1,500 feet into the mountainside showed insufficient oxygen to support life in that part of the mine.

On Monday night, Murray defended MSHA and himself from criticism that they botched the rescue effort and needlessly put rescue workers at risk.

"There was absolutely nothing more that MSHA or Murray Energy or (mine co-owner) Utah American could have done to rescue these trapped miners," he said. "And based on what we knew at the time, we did everything correctly. There were no mistakes."

The missing miners' families called the dead and injured who worked to find their loved ones their "heroes."

"We didn't want to get nobody killed; we still don't want to get nobody hurt," Sanchez said. "I work with those men, and I know they were digging. If they would have had to dig with their hands, they would have done it, because they wanted them other six men out alive."

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Reader comments on this story - 15 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Technology/trapped wrote on Aug 22, 2007 6:12 PM:

" Why do people go missing on mountains and are never found? Probably the same type situation as this: conditions are too hazardous to continue a rescue mission and the likelihood of the person being found alive is too slim to risk more lives to try. It's tragic, and I hope no one here ever has to go through such an experience. "

Mines wrote on Aug 22, 2007 6:10 PM:

" If you've never gone into a mine before, you can't have a good grasp on exactly how far into the earth these men were, and how unpredictable the earth can be when you are that far down, especially when you've already had two collapses. This is a tragic story, and I feel very badly for the families because I am certain the unknown will haunt them on how long their loved ones lived. I'd encourage everyone to visit a mine sometime and see what it's like underground. You might have some more respect for what the people trying the rescue mission are facing if you did, and more understanding for why they have reached the decision they have. "

To Why???!!! wrote on Aug 22, 2007 5:11 PM:

" Technology is only where someone wants it to be. Maybe quit trying to figure out space and get busy with technology for things like this! "

to:to they are heroes wrote on Aug 22, 2007 11:48 AM:

" Wow....how nice of you to say the word 'heroes' is being thrown around here concerning the men who were trying to rescue the trapped men. What would you consider a hero? Yes, these men were doing what they are trained to do, but it is heroic in my opinion. Anyone who does something like this is a hero to me. And, yes, if the janitor saved a life, he's a hero as well. "

To They are heros wrote on Aug 22, 2007 7:08 AM:

" Just how, exactly? I'm getting real tired of how society throws around the HEROS word anymore. It's been overused to the point that its becming meaningless. I suppose you now think that the fella that swept the floor at your grade school was a hero. "

Fatso wrote on Aug 22, 2007 6:08 AM:

" "WHY???!!!!!!": There are ares of Kentucky that today look like a moonscape. Due to the type of mining you suggest. "

Erin wrote on Aug 22, 2007 5:19 AM:

" It's hard to believe that is this day and age we cannot find a way to get to these men. My heart goes out to the families that are waiting for answers that may never come. "

This is so sad~~ wrote on Aug 22, 2007 5:00 AM:

" I feel so sorry for the families words can't describe it. They must feel devestated they will no longer have their loved ones nor will they know if they starved to death before dying? How long did they live before dying? The unanswered questions will haunt them forever. Isn't their some way to stabilize this ground so they will have more time to get at least a couple of them? We can send a man to the moon and bring him back and we can't get a man out from the ground. My sympathies to all families concerned and may God gave them a speedy death so they didn't suffer. "

If the feds say they.... wrote on Aug 22, 2007 1:12 AM:

" can't dig in the tunnels anymore because it isn't safe - then they can't dig anymore. If they were to find the men via camera, they would not be able to get them out without digging in the tunnels. This is a very sad situation indeed. Mining is a very dangerous job and miners and their families know it is when they start mining. I do hope the families of these men find acceptance one day. God Bless all of them. "

WHY???!!!!!! wrote on Aug 21, 2007 7:42 PM:

" Is it even necessary that men have to go down thousands of feet anyway to mine this coal? With all this technology can't they just blast those mines and get the coal, or use those digging machines for the same purpose? why continually risk the lives of these men? it does not seem fair, sure does not make sense. "

What?! wrote on Aug 21, 2007 5:20 PM:

" I asked my husband how this could be. Everything that can be done with everything else and it's been days and they haven't found these poor people. Something seems to be very wrong somewhere. "

keeping hope alive wrote on Aug 21, 2007 1:27 PM:

" Bruce I am with you on them not being able to find a way to communicate with the miners except tapping on rock. If there isn't enough oxygen in the mine to sustain life then why were these men sent in there in the first place. I have been following this story ever since i found out about it which was day 8 of the collapse and i've been heart broken ever since. they just can't give up "

Closure wrote on Aug 21, 2007 12:39 PM:

" Closure can be difficult to attain under any circumstances, but especially in this situation. My prayers to all the families involved with this crisis will be for healing and understanding. "

Bruce wrote on Aug 21, 2007 11:19 AM:

" How we can talk to astronaunts in space but can't communicate with Miners who are 1,000 feet in the ground. Seems like the mining industry needs a good dose of technology ! Very sad situation. My prayers go out to those families and children. "

They are heroes... wrote on Aug 21, 2007 11:10 AM:

" My thoughts and prayers for the families. "
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