Posted on 08/13/2007 10:06:50 AM PDT by princess leah
HUNTINGTON, Utah — One of four miners who got out of a collapsing coal mine alive said he did not feel or hear a thing as the mountain shook and caved in, trapping six of his colleagues.
Tim Curtis was near the mine's entrance on Aug. 6 when he got a text message telling him of the collapse on his PED, or personal emergency device. The trapped men are believed to be about 3.4 miles from the mine's entrance.
"Where I was at, I felt nothing," Curtis said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's just like you are here and three miles away are you going to hear a balloon pop?"
The three other men who escaped the mine unharmed were also believed to be relatively close to the entrance.
The cause of the collapse has not been established. Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp. and co-owner of the mine, has insisted it was caused by an earthquake but seismologists say there was no earthquake and that readings on seismometers actually came from the collapse
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Tim Curtis was near the mine's entrance on Aug. 6 when he got a text message telling him of the collapse on his PED, or personal emergency device. The trapped men are believed to be about 3.4 miles from the mine's entrance.
"Where I was at, I felt nothing," Curtis said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's just like you are here and three miles away are you going to hear a balloon pop?"
The three other men who escaped the mine unharmed were also believed to be relatively close to the entrance.
The cause of the collapse has not been established. Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp. and co-owner of the mine, has insisted it was caused by an earthquake but seismologists say there was no earthquake and that readings on seismometers actually came from the collapse
Curtis, a 33-year-old third-generation miner who works as a mine fire boss, or safety inspector, has worked 12-hour shifts every day since the collapse to aid the rescue effort.
As that effort continued Sunday, there was more disheartening news for rescuers and relatives of the missing men. A video camera lowered into the collapsed mine revealed equipment but no sign of the miners, a federal official said.
Searchers decided to drill a third hole in hopes of finding them. Mine officials were unavailable early Monday for comment on whether crews had begun drilling that hole. Officials said Sunday they expected to have the drilling rig in place by early Monday so would work could begin.
Two holes have already been drilled about 1,800 feet down into the mountain containing the mine. The first is a 2 1/2-inch wide hole that rescue crews initially believed drifted during the drilling process into a neighboring sealed chamber. A microphone dropped into that first hole heard no sign of the miners and air samples recorded an atmosphere of only 7 percent oxygen — measurements similar to those known to exist in a sealed area of the mine and an oxygen level that would not sustain life.
The hole was later determined to be in an active work area, and rescuers were pumping air down the hole.
A second hole measuring nearly 9 inches allowed crews to lower a camera into a cavern that officials said showed a "survivable space." But images were limited and the camera was withdrawn to clear off one lens.
The second attempt to use the camera to get a glimpse of the missing men was hampered by poor lighting that limited the camera view to only about 15 feet into a 5 1/2-foot-high void at the bottom of the hole, far less than the 100 feet it is capable of viewing, said Richard Stickler, head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Rescuers saw a tool bag, a chain and other items that are normally seen underground in a mine, he said. "We did not see any sign at all of any of the miners," Stickler said.
Despite the setbacks, rescue leaders said they were proceeding under the assumption the miners remain alive.
Stickler, who met with family members for more than three hours Sunday, said officials will try again to see into the mine. They will also pump in compressed air.
Curtis said the miners likely improvised an emergency plan when all four entry tunnels near their work site were blocked.
"It's just like your house, if it caught on fire and you have a plan to get out the window and that window is blocked," Curtis said. "That's what happened here."
Rob Moore, Murray's vice president, said the latest drilling effort could take up to six days.
Rescuers have been moving horizontally through the mine to try to reach the men. Their route was blocked about 2,000 feet from the men and rubble had been cleared from about 580 feet of the route, Stickler said.
Stickler would not estimate how long it would take to reach the miners on the horizontal route, but that effort has been slowed by repeated earth movements known as "mountain bumps."
Family members and supporters could only wait.
Cody Allred, 32-year-old son of missing miner Kerry Allred, looked sad and exhausted as he said, "I've accepted all possibilities."
This is just heart breaking.
susie
I was afraid from the first that it wasn’t going to be a happy ending.
"The M3.9 event does not have the characteristics of a typical, naturally occurring earthquake. Instead, preliminary observations suggest a shock induced by underground coal mining. Detailed seismological analyses by scientists at the University of California at Berkeley support this interpretation. The findings of the Berkeley team indicate that the source mechanism of the August 6 seismic event is most consistent with the collapse of an underground cavity."
I’d read that when they managed to test the oxygen level was 7%, not enough to sustain life. 1,500 feet down and 3.4 miles from the entrance. This is too sad for these brave men. It takes real courage to work in a mine.
God save their souls.
That was the initial test in the first hole; but that hole was drilled into an inactive chamber. The second hole, in an active mining area, showed > 20 percent oxygen.
Is 20 percent enough?
Bump.
Around 20% is the normal oxygen content in air, if I recall correctly.
Let hope they are still alive. It’s taking too long to reach them. They don’t even know where they are.
Actually the first hole was determined to actually be in the mine cavity. It initially read >20% because it was sampling the bore hole air. Eventually it leveled out at 7%. It was theorized that there might be pockets of air that could sustain life, though that is not known.
Righto, but the second, more precise hole, is definitely hit an oxygen-rich atmosphere.
Yes. Ambient air is 20.9. You can live down to 19.5%, but that’s at the limit.
Thank you for the information. This is a sad story though. Taking so long to find them seems like it was a very dangerous mine. I feel sick when I think of what their fate may be.
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