Three of the rescuers attempting to find six workers trapped in a Utah mine since last week have been killed following a cave-in, officials said on Thursday.
Additionally, six rescuers were injured, said Tammy Kikuchi, a spokesperson with Utah’s department of natural resources.
She confirmed the third death, but it was not known at which hospital that rescuer died.
The others died at Castleview Hospital in Price, Utah — 32km from the mine site at Crandall Canyon in Huntington — and at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Centre in Provo, Utah.
The cave-in, which occurred at about 6.35pm local time, was referred to as a ”mountain bump” — an eruption of rock and coal under increased pressure from overhead rock as drilling removes surrounding rock and material shifts in an area of the mine.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said all rescue workers were evacuated from the mine and were accounted for, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported.
The six trapped miners who were the subject of the search have not been heard from since the central Utah mine caved in on August 6.
”Tonight [Thursday] we have witnessed a most unfortunate incident on top of last week’s tragedy,” Utah Governor Jon Huntsman said in a statement. ”I hope the lessons we learn from this week in Utah will be instrumental in improving mine safety everywhere.”
Crandall Canyon Mine co-owner Robert Murray said earlier on Thursday the cavity found by a third bore hole had enough oxygen to sustain life indefinitely and that his crews would keep up efforts to contact the missing men.
Rescue crews were preparing to drill a fourth hole into the mine on Thursday. Work on a tunnel that could eventually get them out was proceeding slowly because of seismic activity.
It is not yet clear what caused the mine to collapse. Murray has said it was triggered by an earthquake despite disagreement from geologists. — Reuters