Six miners missing as tunnel collapses after earthquake

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A rescue operation was underway at a coal mine in a remote part of the western state of Utah yesterday after a tunnel collapsed leaving six miners missing, police and officials said.

Authorities said they had pinpointed the location of the six miners who were digging underground at the Genwal Mine in Huntington Canyon, around 120 miles (193 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City at the time of the cave-in.

However, Robert Murray, a director of Utah American Energy which is spearheading the rescue effort, told a news briefing there had been no contact with the miners and acknowledged they may have died.

"We know where they are. They could be trapped ... they could be dead," Murray said. "There's no way of knowing right now."

The miners were declared missing early yesterday following the tunnel collapse at around 3:50 am local time (0850 GMT), around one hour after a 4.0 magnitude earthquake struck less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

It was not immediately clear if the earthquake caused the accident. Local media reports quoted seismologists in Utah as saying the tunnel collapse may have been misread as an earthquake.

Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon told local KSL radio the missing men were believed to be up to 3,000 feet (900 meters) underground when the cave-in occurred.

"I've heard several different versions about how far they are, but I know it's at least 2,000 (600 meters) to 3,000 feet. They should all be together," Guymon said.

Murray said four rescue crews had been deployed to try and reach the men, revealing that workers were hoping to dig through an abandoned mine adjacent to the site of the accident.

Rescue teams would have to break the seals of the mine, which was shut down in 2004, before digging through around 100 feet (30 meters) of coal to the chamber where the miners were believed to be located, Murray said.