'Survivable Space' Found in Utah Mine

Tomas Hernandez, the uncle of trapped miner Luis Hernandez, is interviewed by reporters after the morning update with Crandall Canyon Mine owner Robert Murray at Canyon View Junior High School in Huntington, Utah, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007. A video camera lowered into a shattered coal mine where six miners have been missing for more than five days has found "survivable space," a federal official said Saturday, but attempts to signal the miners were met by silence. The void found by a camera lowered into a new borehole showed an intact ceiling over 2 1/2-feet of rubble mixed with water on the floor, said Richard Stickler, head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Chris Detrick) (Chris Detrick - AP)

A smaller hole 2 1/2 inches wide that was drilled into the mine earlier was being used to pump oxygen into the void. Sampling of air in that hole had found oxygen levels too low for survival.

The two holes are 130 feet apart. The void is 1,868 feet below the drill rigs.

The men were more than three miles inside the remote mine at the time of the thunderous collapse Monday. Efforts to reach them through the horizontal main tunnels have been slowed by fallen rock and by ground movements that require extensive installation of roof and wall supports to keep rescuers safe.

Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp., co-owner of the mine, said workers clearing away mounds of rubble had progressed 650 feet into a 2,000-foot tunnel that could lead to the men.

"The rescue effort itself, I am very disappointed at our pace," Murray said, asserting, however, that no mistakes had been made.

The findings from the camera were announced after officials met to inform the miners' families and show them videotape from the camera.

"It's remarkable and wonderful how they are holding up," Murray said.

The brother of missing miner Don Erickson expressed frustration at the news.

"We don't know anything," Terry Erickson said. "It's just the same stuff that's on TV. I'm getting tired of hearing it."

Authorities have said it could take about a week to reach the miners through the tunnels.

"No good news," said Maria Buenrostro, sister of miner Manuel Sanchez, 41, as she drove away from a school where families were briefed.

The mining crew also included Carlos Payan, in his 20s; Kerry Allred, 57; Brandon Phillips, 24; and Don Erickson, 50.

At an evening prayer service in Huntington, local Mormon leader Lavar Jensen asked about 400 people to fast for the next 24 hours to add power to the prayers for the men and their families.

"We want their souls to be satisfied," Jensen said. "We want them to know the Lord is in charge. This is his plan. The Lord knows the fate of these six men."

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Associated Press writers Alicia Caldwell, Jennifer Dobner and Brock Vergakis contributed to this report.