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U.S. Mine Rescue Drilling Due to Resume
Friday, July 26, 2002
(23:55)
Reuters

Work crews trying to reach nine Pennsylvania coal miners trapped in a flooded mine shaft scrambled to resume rescue drilling operations on July 26, 2002 after their drill bit broke while still at least 150 feet from the men, officials said. It was a dramatic setback that may seriously jeopardize any opportunity at saving the miners, who face the growing threat of hypothermia after over 30 hours stranded in dark, wet conditions as cold as 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Image Credit: Reuters Graphic.

More than 100 relatives of the trapped men, aged 25 to 50, gathered in a Red Cross shelter at a local fire station to wait for news. "The families are hopeful, and as you can imagine, in a state of high anxiety," Schweiker said after visiting them. "They've been around what amounts to a rough occupation for a long, long time. It gives them some grit and a preference for straight talk."

SOMERSET, Pa. -- Reuters
Rescue workers trying to free nine Pennsylvania coal miners trapped deep underground for nearly 48 hours were set to resume drilling an escape shaft on Friday after an agonizing delay caused by a broken bit.

A giant drill rig on which the main rescue plans hinge suspended operations sometime after 2 a.m. when its 30-inch (76-cm) wide bit broke about 100 feet (30 metres) below the surface, still 150 feet (45 metres) short of the men stranded in the Que Creek mine, 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.

It took 14 hours to retrieve the broken bit and prepare to resume digging. A second one nearby had reached 30 feet (nine metres) before drilling stopped there, too, after crews encountered rock.

"Rescue shafts one and two, and the drilling in those shafts, will begin anew," Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker told a news conference. "It was just a wonderful development to get the drill bit up," he added.

The setback heightened fears for the miners, who are in danger from hypothermia in the flooded mine shaft where air and water temperatures are as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius).

"It makes predictions of when we would reach the chamber, and safely so, hard to offer," Schweiker said. "We plan and work and pray that it's going to go well."
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2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan