Thursday, August 23, 2007

Today rescue workers will drill a sixth hole into the collapsed Utah mine in a final effort to resuce the trapped miners who have been missing since August 6.

The previous holes, which have been dug as deep as 1,500 feet (460 m) underground at the Crandall Canyon Mine, have not produced any signs of the trapped miners.

Bob Murray, the mine’s co-owner, said this sixth attempt to reach the miners will be the last. Murray also said that this last attempt will bring him closure. However, he realizes the families may never find the closure they are calling for. A spokesman for the families said they do not want the rescue efforts to stop until they find the men. One family member said, “He doesn’t realize that what we have now is hope, and maybe our family members are not alive, but we want our bodies out…We want proper burials.”

Mining will not be resumed in the area, Murray said.