|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
By Category |
 |
|
|
| |
|
| |
| |
India On Media |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Politics
News |
|
| Utah mine rescue 'may take week' |
| The head of a mine in the US state of Utah - where six men have been trapped underground since Monday - has said it could take a week to reach them
|
| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 8-August-2007
11:5:58 AM |
| Robert Murray, chairman of the company which owns Crandall Canyon mine, said rescue efforts would resume once seismic activity subsided.
No contact has been made with the men, who are 1,500ft (457m) underground.
It is unclear how much air is in the mine, although it is reported to be stocked with drinking water.
Mr Murray said there was plenty of oxygen to support the men, if they were still alive.
But an official from the Mine Safety and Health Administration in Washington said it was impossible to know.
Rescue efforts were suspended on Tuesday because of earth tremors.
Rock falls wiped out a 310ft advance made by rescuers, taking them "back to square one", to the point they had reached a day earlier, said Mr Murray.
They had managed to get within 1,700ft of the men on Monday.
"There is absolutely no way that through our underground rescue effort we can reach the vicinity of the trapped miners for at least one week at the earliest," Mr Murray told reporters.
The group is thought to be 3.4 miles (5.5km) from the mine entrance.
According to Mexico's consul in Utah, three of the miners are Mexican citizens.
It is still not clear what caused the cave-in at the mine, 140 miles (225km) from Salt Lake City.
Initially the collapse was blamed on an earthquake, but experts have since suggested the shafts might have caved in with enough force to register on seismographs.
This has led to speculation that mining procedures could have triggered the incident.
It has been claimed that the workers were using a risky technique known as "retreat mining", where the last standing pillars of coal are pulled down and the roof is allowed to fall in.
However, Mr Murray, of Murray Energy Corporation, the mine's owners, insisted that an earthquake caused the collapse.
"This was an earthquake, contrary to what others might have you believe," he said
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENTS
Free offer!!! Become an administrator for your zip home page, "Post" local news (local to your postcode)& pictures, "Post" advertisement banners from local companies. Make Extra money.
|
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
