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| Utah mine rescue efforts 'halted' | Utah mine rescue efforts 'halted' |
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| Mine officials in Utah have suspended "indefinitely" underground efforts to reach six trapped miners, after a cave-in left three rescuers dead. | Mine officials in Utah have suspended "indefinitely" underground efforts to reach six trapped miners, after a cave-in left three rescuers dead. |
| Attempts to locate the men from above ground by drilling into the mountain will continue, but hopes are fading. | Attempts to locate the men from above ground by drilling into the mountain will continue, but hopes are fading. |
| The cave-in which killed three mine workers and injured six more resulted from seismic activity, officials said. | |
| No contact has been made with the six trapped miners since a tunnel collapsed 1,500ft (457m) underground on 6 August. | No contact has been made with the six trapped miners since a tunnel collapsed 1,500ft (457m) underground on 6 August. |
| Utah mine layout and location | |
| Since the first mine collapse, rescue teams had tunnelled about 250m towards the trapped miners, with about 350m to go, when the latest accident happened at 1835 (0035 GMT) on Thursday. | |
| Is there any possible way we can continue this underground operation and provide safety for the rescue workers? At this point we don't have an answer Richard SticklerMine Safety and Health Administration The collapse was caused by a "mountain bump" - a build-up of pressure inside a mine from overhead rock that forces surrounding rock and coal to shoot out of the walls with great force, experts said. | |
| Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), announced the indefinite halt to below-ground rescue efforts at a news conference on Friday. | |
| "Is there any possible way we can continue this underground operation and provide safety for the rescue workers? At this point we don't have an answer," he said. | |
| Mine safety experts are being brought to Utah to study the options, he said. | |
| He praised those killed and injured as "heroes" who had been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice by risking their own lives in the attempt to save the trapped miners. | |
| Three rescue workers are still being treated in hospital for their injuries, he said, among them an MSHA employee. One of those killed also worked for the federal body. | |
| 'Hard blow' | |
| Speaking at the same news conference, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman offered his prayers to the families of those killed and injured on Thursday, as well to the relatives of the missing miners. | |
| "Suffice it to say that yesterday we went from a tragedy to a catastrophe," he said. | |
| He urged the state and the country to draw safety lessons from what had happened. | |
| "We want to make sure that the lives that were lost last night were not lost in vain, that as a result of what we learn from this week-and-a-half of pain we become better and smarter and safer," he said. | |
| Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon earlier told TV news network CNN on Friday: "It just feels like a really hard blow to swallow after all we've been through the last week and a half and everyone trying to cope in their individual way." | |
| Initially the original collapse was blamed on an earthquake, but experts have since suggested the shafts might have caved in with enough force to register on seismographs. | |
| This has led to speculation that mining procedures could have triggered the incident. | |
| The workers may have been using a technique known as "retreat mining", where the last standing pillars of coal are pulled down and the roof is allowed to fall in. | |
| The mine's owners have repeatedly insisted their operation was safe and that the mine collapse followed a natural earthquake. | |
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| Do you live in Utah or work in the mining industry? What is your reaction to this story? Send us your comments by filling out the form below. | |