Rescuers attempt to vent mine

MONTCOAL, W.Va. – Rescuers held out slim hope Tuesday that four missing coal miners might have survived when a mine exploded, killing 25 people in the country’s deadliest underground disaster in a quarter-century.

A day after the blast in southern West Virginia, desperate rescuers began boring into the mine in hopes of releasing poisonous gases so crews could go in search of the men. But Gov. Joe Manchin said it could be midday today before much progress is made.

“I don’t want to give anybody any false hope, but by golly, if I’m on that side of the table, and that’s my father or my brother or my uncle or my cousins, I’m going to have hope,” he said.

The missing miners might have been able to reach airtight chambers stocked with food, water and enough oxygen for four days. But rescue teams checked one of two chambers nearby, and it was empty. The buildup of gases prevented them from reaching the second chamber.

On Tuesday, bulldozers carved an access road to make way for drilling crews, who planned to dig four shafts to vent methane, a highly combustible gas that accumulates naturally in coal mines, and carbon monoxide from the blast site about 1,000 feet beneath the surface.

Crews began drilling two side-by-side holes that start at 12 inches in diameter and narrow to 6 inches. They hoped to open more holes later Tuesday evening.