Rescuers near Utah mine collapse area

No human noise was detected when a microphone was dropped down into the hole, early Friday morning. Mine owner Bob Murray later said it did not work because the microphone's line had broken and the drill bit was in the way.

Underground

Crews are working around the clock to reach the men. Underground efforts inside the collapsed mine are making some progress — slowly.

"It's so labor intensive. Incredibly labor intensive," said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., which owns the Crandall Canyon Mine.

"Our men, our women are working their hearts out to make progress and get back to the miners," he said.

By Friday night, rescue crews were reported to have moved 460 feet toward the trapped miners. It's about 2,000 feet from the area of the mine the trapped miners are believed to be. Mine officials said it could be four or five days before they are able to break through to the cavern where the men are.

That pace could pick up today because crews have found open areas where much less rubble needs to be cleared.

"If that continues and there are no more seismic shocks, then the pace with which we are going to get to those miners is going to significantly increase," said mine owner Bob Murray.

Ten miners were in the middle of a 12-hour shift at the Crandall Canyon Mine early Monday morning when a chunk of the mine collapsed. Murray insists it was an earthquake, although seismologists dispute his claims.

Good hour, bad hour

This morning, Murray will take the son of one of the trapped miners and the brother of another — both miners themselves — into the Crandall Canyon Mine to view the rescue effort again.

Family members continued their anxious wait Friday for the latest developments, sequestered inside a local junior high school.

Father Donald Hope, the pastor of the Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish, said in a statement to the Deseret Morning News that the families were waiting and hoping.

"It is not so much a matter of having a good day or a bad day; it gets to the point of having a good hour or bad hour as they continue to await the latest news from the mine," he said.

The families of Carlos Payan, Manuel Sanchez and Luis Hernandez issued a statement Friday through the pastor.

"We, the Sanchez, Payan and Hernandez families, want to thank you immensely for your prayers at this difficult moment. During this moment, we feel the loving presence of God in the midst of our pain. We ask you to continue praying for our six miners trapped in the mine. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you again for all your support," they said.

"Also, we would like to ask you to light a candle and raise a prayer for our miners. GRACIAS."