Another Tactic Used In Search For Miners

Robotic Camera Enters Borehole

HUNTINGTON, Utah, Aug. 26 -- Despite three weeks of drilling and digging that have revealed no signs of six men trapped inside a collapsed coal mine, officials said Sunday that the search is continuing.

Federal and mine officials said that a seventh borehole was being punched into the Crandall Canyon mine and that a robotic camera was being lowered into a hole drilled during previous efforts to find the men.

The camera is similar to one used to search within the wreckage of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It can take images in the darkened cavern from about 50 feet away with the help of a 200-watt light and can travel 1,000 feet from the end of the test hole -- a much wider range than previous cameras used, in part because of its ability to crawl through rubble, officials said.

"The families are thrilled to hear this," said Colin King, a lawyer for the miners' families.

Images from the camera are not expected until Monday.

Robin Murphy, director of the Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technology at the University of South Florida, however, said her camera's ability to obtain images in the mine is a long shot. She said it is not clear whether the camera will fit all the way down the hole.

The announcement came a day after crews penetrated the mine with a sixth borehole, finding a debris-filled area too small for the men to have survived in, officials said.

Mine co-owner Robert E. Murray said the seventh hole will be drilled into the mine's kitchen area, to which miners are trained to flee in case of collapse. "We haven't given up hope," he said.

Murray previously said the sixth borehole would be the last before the mine is sealed.

Bruce Hill, chief executive of UtahAmerican Energy, a part owner in Crandall Canyon, said the mine company may drill holes even after the completion of the seventh.

The Crandall Canyon miners were last heard from about 3 a.m. Aug. 6, just before a thunderous shudder inside the mountain cracked the ribs of the mine and filled passageways with debris.

A second collapse killed three rescuers and injured six others Aug. 16.

Murray said he is temporarily shutting down another Utah coal mine and will bring in outside engineers to study its safety.