Hope fades for trapped US miners

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Rescuers have failed to find six US miners missing since a tunnel collapsed two weeks ago after a sixth rescue bid, a lawyer for the miners' families says.

The latest hole drilled to reach the miners opened on an area too small for the men to survive in.

Owners of the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah have not ruled out drilling a seventh hole, lawyer Colin King said.

No contact has been made with the trapped miners since a tunnel collapsed 1,500ft (457m) underground on 6 August.

'No space'

Mr King, who represents some of the families of the trapped miners, said the families were distraught after mine officials told them there was "no void where the sixth hole is; there is no space".

Despite the lack of space at the end of the hole - which was completed on Saturday afternoon - rescue workers would still send down a video camera and take air samples to find signs of life, US Department of Labor spokesman Matthew Faraci said.

Previous tests revealed poor air quality and no signs of life.

The mine's co-owner, Bob Murray, had said this hole would be the last, but Mr King said mine officials "left the possibility open" that they would consider drilling a seventh hole.

Last week, Mr Murray said he had told relatives of the trapped men he was "not optimistic they will be found alive".

Below-ground efforts were halted last week after three rescuers died in a cave-in. The US mine safety body has said the mine is structurally unstable.

Relatives of the trapped miners want rescuers to drill a hole large enough to send down a rescue capsule to bring out the men.

Mine safety experts have warned that it would be pointless to send down a capsule without knowing the exact location of the trapped miners and that sending workers down in it to search would put more lives at risk because the mountain is still shifting.

'Unacceptable risk'

Richard Stickler, head of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the unstable nature of the mine, where seismic activity continues, made it too dangerous to work below ground.

Rescue teams had tunnelled about 250m towards the trapped miners, with about 350m to go, when the second accident happened last Thursday.

It 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.