Officials from the Mine Health and Safety Administration canceled a scheduled media briefing Monday night at the canyon entrance. They also did not speak to the media after a 10-minute meeting with family members in Huntington, and the only information about what they knew came from attorneys for the families.

Heavy rain at the mountaintop was so bad that boulders slid into the road and mud and debris clogged the path of the descending robot, according to attorneys Colin King and Edward Havas, who represent the trapped miners' families.

"They didn't get very far," King said.

King and Havas said MSHA did not tell the families when the seventh hole would be started, but efforts to lower the robot continued Monday night. The robot reached about half-way down the third hole that was drilled into the roof of the mine, but technical difficulties interrupted the process.

King said the robot traveled far enough to give MSHA officials confidence that it could be lowered to the mine's floor.

Originally, rescue workers thought the fourth hole would be the best route for the robot, but further consideration favored the third hole, Havas said. MSHA officials are still keeping the fourth hole as an option, Havas said.

King said MSHA officials have not discussed the possibility of drilling an eighth hole in the mountain.

"I would assume they're going to focus on (the seventh hole) and make a decision on the eighth hole after the seventh hole," King said. "I think they are genuinely anxious to see if this robot will work."

Havas said the family members, who still have hope their loved ones may be alive, are encouraged by the rescue efforts.

"What they want is their loved ones to be recovered by whatever means are possible that don't get someone else killed," Havas said. "The fact that the process is continuing is a positive sign. (The mining officials) haven't given up."

Monday was also the deadline for workers laid off from the Tower Mine near Price to decide whether to relocate to other states for jobs at other Murray-owned mines. He temporarily closed the Tower Mine, which employs approximately 170 miners, for safety reasons.

Also, congressional officials requested from Murray and the U.S. Labor Department information about the safety records for the Crandall Canyon Mine. Members of the House Education and Labor Committee need the information as they launch an investigation into the disaster.

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Contributing: Associated Press

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com; achoate@desnews.com