Second Drill Penetrates Utah Mine

After failed attempt, equipment reaches chamber believed to hold trapped men
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 11, 2007 8:13 AM CDT
Second Drill Penetrates Utah Mine
Kelsee Thomas, right, with her grandmother Marcie Zwahlen hold a candle as members of the community turned out Friday night, Aug. 10, 2007, in Huntington, Utah, for a candlelight vigil for the six trapped miners in the Crandall Canyon Mine. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Trent Nelson)   (Associated Press)

A second drill has reached the chamber where rescuers believe six Utah miners are trapped, opening up the possibility that a video camera will reveal whether the men are alive. The new hole, wider than the first, punched through at 3am today, the AP reports, and images are expected later. Meanwhile, neighbors and loved ones held a candlelight vigil.

The first hole into the chamber penetrated an area with oxygen levels below breathable and silence on a lowered microphone. Rescuers now believe that drill went off course, into an older, abandoned shaft, and maintain hope that the men are alive. If they are, workers will lower food and water through the new hole while they finish digging an escape tunnel. (More miners stories.)

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