Utah mine rescuers injured after seismic 'bump': reports

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Several rescuers trying to reach six miners buried underground in Utah were injured after seismic activity at the mine, television reports said Thursday, citing local officials.

CNN said an official with the Utah Department of Natural Resources had told a reporter that a "seismic bump" at the Genwal Mine in Crandall Canyon had caused an unspecified number of injuries.

No further information about the incident was immediately available but reports said six ambulances and two paramedic helicopters were dispatched to the mine, around 120 miles (193 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City.

An intensive rescue effort has been underway at the facility since August 6 following a tunnel cave-in which was believed to have been caused by an earthquake.

There has been no contact with the six miners since the accident although officials have refused to give up hope that the men may have survived.

The Utah drama has revived memories of the doomed effort to reach 13 miners who were trapped after an explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia in January 2006. Twelve miners died and only one survived after being buried underground for 41 hours.