Rescue Workers 'Discouraged' in Search for Trapped Miners

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TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. — Tests conducted thus far to determine whether 13 trapped men in West Virginia's Sago Mine are still alive were discouraging, mine officials said Tuesday, adding that carbon monoxide levels in parts of the mine are far above the normal limit.
"There is hope they could be at another location or they could be barricaded somewhere" else in the mine where the carbon monoxide levels aren't as harmful, Ben Hatfield, CEO of the mine owner, International Coal Group, said during a press conference Tuesday morning.
The cause of the explosion that trapped the miners hadn't been determined early Tuesday, but a spokeswoman for West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said earlier that it may have been sparked by lightning.
The blast occurred at about 6:40 a.m. Monday, trapping the miners 260 feet below the surface of the Sago Mine, located about 100 miles northeast of Charleston.
Four co-workers tried to reach them immediately after the explosion but stopped because of contaminated air. The blast knocked out the mine's communication equipment, preventing authorities from contacting the miners.
During the rescue effort Tuesday, rescuers who had penetrated more than 9,000 feet into the coal mine where 13 miners were believed trapped were ordered to return to the surface as a drilling crew punched into the mine with a 6¼-inch hole.
Meanwhile, a track-mounted robot brought from a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration office was being sent into the mine. The robot is equipped with a camera and sensors to measure air quality.
Officials thought the workers should be removed from the mine in case the drilling caused the air to shift, Hatfield said. Crews were drilling the hole to test for poisonous gases and to try to detect signs of life.
But during the press conference, Hatfield said search workers penetrated a hole in the left section of the mine near where they believed the miners were trapped around 5:38 a.m. ET. They pounded on steel and listened for a response for over 10 minutes, "but the drill crew heard no response," Hatfield said.
"No barricades or survivors were seen," he continued, adding that the camera attached to the probe didn't show any major damage done to the equipment inside, which could mean there was no major blast inside the mine at that location. The camera also didn't find any bodies.
But air monitors attached to the equipment that probed the mine recorded oxygen and methane levels at acceptable levels but the carbon monoxide levels were recorded at 1,300 parts per million -- that far exceeds the 400 parts per million maximum level that sustains life
Elevated carbon monoxide levels often indicate that there has been combustion.
"This carbon monoxide level far exceeds regulatory limit of expirable air … therefore we are very discouraged by the results of this test," Hatfield said. "While we're very discouraged by the information we've received thus far, we remain determined to continue the search so long as there's hope and hope remains."

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