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Drilling resumes on rescue shaft

Workers check a drill bit Friday being used in an effort to rescue the trapped miners.

SOMERSET, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- After removing a damaged drill bit, workers resumed drilling a rescue shaft Friday night in a bid to save nine coal miners trapped underground for two days.

Drilling stopped after a drill bit was damaged early Friday morning. David Hess, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, told reporters that the broken drill bit had been cleared and work would resume on the shaft Friday evening.

"We are at this point about 150 feet away from the miners that are trapped underground," Hess said.

A second shaft was begun after the first one was blocked, and work has also resumed on it after a pause to change drills, officials said. There was no new indication, such as audible tapping, that the miners were alive, Hess said -- "but obviously, we remain very optimistic."

CNN NewsPass Video    •  CNN's Jeff Flock visits an abandoned Pa. mine   •  Surveyor used GPS to locate miners   •  Rescued miners go home   •  Miners express appreciation  MORE STORIES   •  Pennsylvania panel to explore mining accident   •  Flooded mine could be idle for months   •  Pa. governor: Mine's operator 'owes answers'   •  A turning point in the rescue effort   •  Miners braved harrowing conditions   •  Previous mining accidents were minor » Story archive  RESOURCES   •  Jeff Goodell: Despair turns to joy   •  Gov. Schweiker: Mine probe to seek answers   •  Rescued miner: 'It was a team effort'   •  Why we burn coal  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Gallery: The rescued miners   •  Gallery: Rescue quotes   •  Graphic: Diagram of the Quecreek Mine   •  Map: Mining accident   •  Timeline: What happened, and when  Conditions in mine Cold: 56 degrees F Dark: Miners' cap lamps will have expired Wet: Water at an unknown level Cramped: Shaft is 237 feet underground; about 4 feet high and 12-18 feet wide

The drill bit broke off early Friday as rescuers were digging a 30- to 36-inch diameter shaft straight down to miners' chamber. Family members and friends said they were praying and helping each other through the harrowing wait for news of the miners.

"People are holding up well," said one community resident, "but when the phone rings, we have to hold our breath."(Full story)

The miners have been trapped since Wednesday night in a flooded shaft in the state's rugged southwestern coal country. Tapping was heard coming from underground midday Thursday -- the last communication from the trapped miners.

"The timeline is always a shaky thing, as this process continues it goes through some lighter rock, the process goes quickly," said Betsy Mallison, another state environmental protection official. "As we get into the denser rock, it does slow down."

Rescue workers have also drilled smaller holes down to the mine shaft and inserted pumps in an effort to combat rising water levels and create airways.

A Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection source told CNN progress had been made as water levels had stopped rising in the mine and were going down.

Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker on Thursday night told reporters a "sophisticated basket" is being made that will be used to drop down an escape hole once it is drilled.

"We believe it's going well," Schweiker said. "We are bringing to bear every piece of equipment to see that it goes well and goes rapidly."

Military sources told CNN that the Navy was sending hyperbaric stretchers to the site which would allow rescuers to safely move injured miners who are underwater.

Schweiker said he visited anxious family members who waited at the nearby Sipesville Volunteer Fire Department Hall for their loved ones to emerge from the dark. The mine is several miles from the site of the September 11 crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in the Shanksville area.

A group of onlookers watch the rescue attempt at the Quecreek Mine.

"It's a tough time for them" and they are in a fragile state, Schweiker said. "But I sense they are optimistic and are ever so hopeful that all that has been assembled in terms of emergency response and in terms of mechanical equipment will help bring about the rescue of their loved ones."

Mike Fogle, a brother of one of the trapped miners, told CNN in an exclusive interview early Friday that those awaiting rescue are "the best men I've ever worked with." (Full story)

The nine men have been trapped in the Quecreek Mine since Wednesday night, when they accidentally drilled too close to a water-filled older, abandoned mine. The wall between the two mines collapsed as millions of gallons of water flowed into the new mine. Another crew of miners managed to flee to safety.

Officials said the miners are crammed in an area about 3-feet-high and 12-feet-wide.

Rob Overman, working with the Pennsylvania Special Medical Response Team looks over the rescue operation.

This is a critical phase in the effort to rescue the men as the threat of hypothermia grows the longer they are trapped in what's estimated to be 55-degree water. Under those conditions, hypothermia begins to set in after 48 hours, or by late Friday.

Hess said authorities were aware of the abandoned mine, but the map they were using did not show its correct location. Pennsylvania has been mined for many years, many of the mines have been left abandoned, and mine mapping isn't always accurate, he said.

But Hess said Quecreek Mine, owned by Black Wolf Coal Co., has not had safety problems in the past.

"It's a new mine, and the record has been very good," he said.

Last September, 13 miners were killed in explosions at a Brookwood, Alabama, mine. It was the nation's deadliest coal mining accident since 1984.