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CNN Live At Daybreak
Nine Pennsylvania Miners Trapped in Cave-In
Aired July 25, 2002 - 05:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: There is a developing story we've been telling you about all morning, nine people trapped in a mine in Pennsylvania. The story is still ongoing. They are trapped about 300 feet underground following a cave-in there.
Jamie John from our Altoona, Pennsylvania affiliate WJAC is covering the story in Somerset, Pennsylvania and joins us with the latest.
Good morning, Jamie, what can you tell us?
JAMIE JOHN, WJAC-TV REPORTER: Good morning, Anderson.
I can tell you I just spoke with the fire chief about 20 minutes ago. He said the latest is that the drilling that they're doing is about 200 feet down below the surface so they still have about 145 to 200 feet to go. But they are getting closer to an air pocket, so that's good news.
And what he told us about what happened last night is that it happened at about 10:30. There were two crews working, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) close to the end of their -- the end of their shift. Each crew had about nine guys in it. The one crew was about 8,000 feet from the exit of the mineshaft there. They hit an old abandoned mine, water rushed in. They radioed the other crews so nine guys were able to get out but nine guys are still inside that mine right now.
COOPER: Do we know what the condition of those nine miners is?
JOHN: We do not know the condition of the miners. There's been no confirmation on anything. We do know that family members are just a few miles up the road at the local fire department awaiting word. But there is no word yet. Again, they've got about 200 feet to drill just to get to an air pocket to even try to find them.
COOPER: And what is the objective? I mean once they drill down, I mean we know -- we think the miners are around 300 feet so they've got about a hundred more feet to go. What is the hope? I mean will the -- will the -- is the idea to bring the miners up through that shaft that's been created?
JOHN: The hope is to be -- is to be able, of course, to get nine men out alive. But again, we have no word on that or when it might happen. They don't -- they haven't given us any on when it might happen. But they did say that there might be a press conference at about 8:00 this morning when they can give us a few more updates. But right now, the most we have is that they're about 200 feet down and that they're close to an air pocket.
COOPER: What is the scene like where you are or where you were earlier? I mean how many people are there working on this? What kind of equipment do they have?
JOHN: They have all kinds of drilling equipment. Not only is the fire department, police and the state police here, we also have OCIA (ph) and several other emergency crews on the scene right now.
COOPER: Have you heard from any of the families of any of these miners?
JOHN: I have not heard from any of the families, although I can tell you that I spoke with one of the miners that got out, one of the nine guys that did get out of the mine. He said that he's been working in the mine for 27-and-a-half years, and he said he's not going to go back.
COOPER: Wow!
JOHN: So we did.
Now I did want to add that we asked about the size of the space that these fellows might be in. They said that size is about 12 feet wide, which isn't too bad, but the height is only about 36 to 40 inches. Now and if they wanted to get out, it would -- they would have to go on foot because there's no mobile transportation down there and there's been no radio contact with anyone since the initial radio contact between the first crew and that second crew that did get out.
COOPER: Wait a minute, so you're saying they're in an area that is only about 30 inches high, is that...
JOHN: Yes, 36 to 40 inches we're told, which is -- which is pretty low. So if they wanted to get out, they'd have to walk. And if they'd walk, certainly they'd have to be hunched down.
COOPER: Right. Wow!
JOHN: So it would take quite a while to get -- you know it's about a mile and a half, 8,000 feet.
COOPER: Jamie John, thanks very much from WJAC our Pennsylvania affiliate in Altoona. Thanks very much for joining us this morning with that update. We'll hopefully check in with you in a little bit as this story develops.
We will, of course, be watching that story all morning long, a mine collapsed in southwestern Pennsylvania, nine miners trapped about 300 feet underground. We're not yet sure of what condition they are in.
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