'Survivable space' found inside mine cavity

HUNTINGTON, Emery County — Rescuers said today they have found "survivable space" in the area where six miners are believed to be trapped inside the Crandall Canyon Mine.

Yet there still is no answer to the most important, most desperate question — what happened to Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Arturo "Manuel" Sanchez?

Late this afternoon, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said the miners are believed to be in an area measuring roughly 475 feet by 260 feet. It extends from the beginning of an 8 5/8-inch hole, drilled by rescuers, to the working face of the mine.

Attempts to signal the miners have been met with silence.

After drilling the hole into the mine, mining engineer David Glassom said, all equipment and machinery outside were turned off for complete silence and a hammer was used to bang the metal drill three times.

"(Hitting) on metal through rock is usually easily heard," he said, noting the sound should be heard at a distance of 2,000 feet inside the mine.

Miners are trained to respond to that sound by hitting something three times in response. The rescuers on top would have then hit their drill five times to let the miners know they were heard.

This morning, however, Glassom and other rescuers did not hear any response from inside the mine.

A camera lowered into the hole drilled through the mountainside early today was not working properly. Federal mine safety officials said they will install a casing, clean the camera's lens and try again.

Rescue capsules are being sent to the scene. The Department of Defense is sending additional sensory equipment, MSHA said.

This afternoon, the families of the miners were shown the latest video footage rescuers managed to take. A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter flew it to them from the top of the mountain above the Crandall Canyon Mine.

"The families have been remarkably strong. We've prayed with them, we've cried with them," said Richard Stickler, the assistant U.S. Labor secretary over MSHA. "We haven't been able to give them a lot of positive information."

At the junior high school where the families have been sequestered during the rescue effort, some relatives left the latest meeting frustrated.