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Rescue Operation For 6 Utah Miners Officially Ends
CBCNews

The search for six men trapped in a Utah coal mine during a cave-in nearly four weeks ago is effectively over after a robotic camera failed to provide any useful information, a U.S. mine official said Friday.

"We talked with the families and we basically told them we're pretty much out of options," said Rich Kulczewski, spokesman for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Mining officials told the families that the robotic camera was successfully dropped down the fourth of seven holes bored into the mountain, near Huntington, Utah, but that it quickly became stuck in mud as it moved over piles of debris, Kulczewski said.

Officials could not retrieve the camera and had to leave it stuck about 15 metres from the surface, he said.

The families had a hard time dealing with the news, said Colin King, an attorney serving as a spokesman for all six families.

The possibility of drilling an eighth hole isn't being ruled out, but there are no immediate plans to do so, Kulczewski said. The rescue efforts are over, he said.

"We don't really know where we could drill again at this time," he said. "That's not to say there might be another hole in the future — you never know. But at this time, we're basically suspending the rescue operation."

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/09/01/utah-mine.html