Too dangerous? Hopes dwindle as owner says Utah mine may be workers' final tomb

HUNTINGTON — Rescuers may never reach the six men trapped nearly 1,900 feet underground in the Crandall Canyon Mine, federal and mine officials said Monday night.

A panel of experts brought in by the federal Mine Safety and Heath Administration has concluded that the area where the mine collapsed 15 days ago "remains in a state that is structurally unstable," making it too dangerous for rescuers to resume underground efforts to reach the six men.

Mine co-owner Bob Murray, addressing reporters for the first time since a rescue accident Thursday night killed three rescuers and injured six others, said the coal mine may be the miners' final resting place.

"I don't know whether the miners will be found," Murray said, "but I'm not optimistic they'll be found alive."

Miners Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Manuel Sanchez have been trapped nearly 1,900 feet underground since early Aug. 6 when the area of the coal mine where they were working collapsed in a 3.9-magnitude seismic event.

The next effort — and perhaps last hope for finding the trapped miners — is a fifth borehole being drilled into an area where mine officials say the men may have retreated. That hole is expected to punch through the mine cavity by 5 p.m. today, mine officials said.

Crews again will attempt to make contact with the trapped miners using audio and visual equipment. If, like the previous four drilling efforts, it shows no sign of the miners, mine officials will evaluate whether a sixth hole will be drilled, Murray said.

"There was only one way to get them out," he said, "and that was through an underground recovery."

The outspoken and sometimes volatile mine owner had not been seen publicly since Thursday night's rescue tragedy.

Murray explained his absence Monday, saying he's been devastated by the deadly accident.

"When the tragedy occurred Thursday night, I immediately went underground and helped pull the miners out — alive and dead — with my own hands," he said. "It was quite a traumatic experience."

Murray said he has continued attempting to make sure the needs of the miners' families are met. The mine owner said he talked with the families earlier Monday, saying he was as "forthright" and as "compassionate" as he could be under such grim circumstances.

"At some time, the reality must sink in," he said, adding that he was a "messenger (of bad news) they didn't want to hear."