Hopes That Trapped US Miners Still Alive ; INTERNATIONAL

Aug 11, 04:21 PM

Current Headlines: Rescuers drilled through to a pocket in the US coal mine where six miners have been trapped, but heard no sound through a microphone that was lowered into the collapsed mine. The mine's co- owner remained hope ful that the six men were still alive despite the silence at the Crandall Canyon mine in central Utah near Huntington.

Mining officials were able to take an air reading from the pocket and said the air quality was good, with 20.5 percent oxygen, some carbon monoxide and no methane.

"That means if they're alive, they're going to stay alive in that atmosphere," Bob Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp said .

The air sample was drawn more than 1,800 feet through a steel tube, which remained in the narrow hole to keep the slender lifeline open in case the miners heard a tone from the microphone and tried to respond.

Drilling continued on a wider hole, which could accommodate a powerful camera to provide a view inside the pocket, deliver food and water, and hopefully give a more definitive answer about the miners' fate.

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