HUNTINGTON, Utah (Reuters) - Six miners remained trapped deep underground on Wednesday, more than two days after a Utah mine collapsed, as special drills inched slowly toward the chamber where the men were thought to be.
Officials said it would take two days for the drills to bore through some 1,500 feet of rock, sandstone and coal to where they believe the six are stranded -- dead or alive -- in the mine.
At that point, rescuers should be able to determine if the miners survived and provide them air, water and communication, but mine co-owner Robert Murray said it would take at least a week before the men could be brought out.
The miners have not been heard from since the mine, located in the Manti-La Sal National Forest in remote central Utah, caved in early on Monday. Officials say they could potentially survive for weeks in an underground chamber if they were not killed by the initial collapse.
"The concussion from the original seismic activity may have instantly killed them, and that is in the hands of the Lord," Murray said. "But we will get to them and have gotten to them as rapidly as we can from the surface."
On Tuesday, rescuers were forced to abandon what was thought the fastest way to reach the miners, using an old mine shaft, after falling rock made it too dangerous. That left crews to basically start over.
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