An ambulance and paramedics have been stationed at the mine since Aug. 6, but a disaster of this size brought in a half-dozen. Two medical helicopters also were flown in to take the victims to hospitals, where two of the men died. One man was dead on the scene.

"I'm sure they did everything they could underground as far as CPR," Stricklin said. "Apparently, when the medical folks looked at him when he came outside, they decided that he should not be life-flighted."

One of the men killed, Dale Black, 49, is a cousin of trapped miner Allred.

"He was very passionate about getting in to save those miners. He only got two days off since they were trapped, and he went off and worked one of them," said Kent Wilson, a friend of Black's.

Kimber, 29, was father of a 5-year-old daughter and twin boys, age 4. He worked underground in mines for 3 1/2 years.

"He was just a wonderful man. He was just a very, very unselfish man. If you'd ask him for a shirt, he'd offer the one off his back and three more from his closet," said Kristen Kimber, his ex-wife, who remained friends with him after their divorce.

Jensen, 53, was an MSHA employee based in Price. On Friday, the doors to the MSHA office there were locked. A man inside the building told the Deseret Morning News the office could not comment about Jensen.

Castleview Hospital released three of the survivors early Friday morning. One of the rescuers remains hospitalized in fair condition. Another, whom MSHA officials said is a mine inspector, underwent surgery on Friday for his injuries.

Huntsman visited with the family of another injured miner at a Provo hospital. That man is listed in serious condition with facial fractures, a broken leg and an internal head injury.

Sharing pain

The families of the trapped miners continue to hold on to hope for a rescue. On Friday, they met with federal authorities, mine safety officials and politicians who discussed the latest plan to keep the rescue effort going despite the deaths of the rescuers.

Utah Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi characterized the meeting as "somber, with some conviction that the mission continue to find the original six."

Father Donald Hope, the pastor of the Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price, relayed a message from some of the families on Friday.

"They are saddened deeply about the deaths and injuries sustained by the rescue workers last night, and they share in the pain of those miners' families," he said.

Father Hope met with several of the family members and spoke to others on the telephone. More than anything else, he said, friends and family members of the men don't want the tragedy to sway the faith of those in Utah, and around the world, who have been holding out hope for the men's rescue.