Safety Worries Hounded Miners: Source

Floors in area around collapse site sparked concerns
By Heather McPherson,  Newser User
Posted Aug 11, 2007 11:30 AM CDT
Safety Worries Hounded Miners: Source
In this photo released by UtahAmerican Energy, Inc, on Friday, Aug. 10, 2007, a worker cuts a road, rear, for a drill rig and construct a 2-1/2 inch drill rig, foreground, Tuesday, Aug. 7, as part of the rescue efforts for six men trapped in the underground Crandall Canyon Mine northwest of Huntington,...   (Associated Press)

The area of the Utah mine where six men are stranded was a source of worries about safety before Monday's collapse, but miners didn’t speak up for fear of losing their jobs, a source tells CNN. “I’ve never heard of that,” the mining company president said. “It's probably a rumor, and I'm not going to respond to rumors.”

The anonymous source said floors in the mine had been buckling under pressure for weeks, and supervisors knew about the problem. The miners concerned about the situation included one of the trapped men, Miguel Sanchez. Said one ex-employee of the mining company, "There are many, many people that feel this way and are afraid to speak up." (More coal mine stories.)

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