Rescue teams search deep for missing miners

Gov. Joe Manchin said the miners' odds of survival 'are a little bit long.'
MELVILLE, W.Va. (AP) -- Rescuers spread out to search a smoky labyrinth for two coal miners Friday after a conveyor belt caught fire deep underground in the second major mining accident in West Virginia in less than three weeks.
Close to a day after the fire broke out, safety crews had yet to make contact with the two men, said Doug Conaway, director of the state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training. Their odds of survival "are a little bit long," Gov. Joe Manchin said.
It was unclear exactly where in the mine the men were. They were equipped with oxygen canisters that typically produce about an hour's worth of air.
Rescue efforts
The fire broke out Thursday night at the Alma No. 1 mine. Rescuers were hampered by heavy smoke that cut visibility to 2 to 3 feet. After the blaze was brought somewhat under control Friday, rescuers spread out to search four tunnels, each about four miles long. The mine extends as much as 900 feet below ground.
About 20 rescue teams from four states were at the scene Friday night. Those rescuers in the mine were finding some pockets of fresh air, but Conaway said there was no way to tell if conditions had changed since Thursday night.
David Roberts, co-manager of Refab Co., a mining machinery repair company, said a friend on a mine rescue team told him it was very hot -- up to 400 degrees -- and smoky inside the shafts.
Twenty-one miners were in the southwestern West Virginia mine on Thursday when a carbon monoxide monitor about 10,000 feet from the entrance set off an alarm. Nineteen of the miners escaped.
Rescuers had hoped to use special phones that emit sensors to try to locate the missing men, but the terrain was too rough to use them.
Support
The governor was with the miners' families, who along with friends and co-workers gathered at the Brightstar Freewill Baptist Church to wait for news. Reporters were barred from the church.
Earlier this month, the governor joined another group of miners and relatives of those trapped after an explosion at the International Coal Group's Sago Mine, on the northern side of the state. Twelve miners died in the disaster. The sole survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., 26, remained hospitalized in a light coma Friday.
"Sago is very fresh in everybody's mind, but this is a different scenario," Manchin said. He said the families were hopeful, but he added, "They know that the odds are a little bit long."
Katharine W. Kenny, spokeswoman for Massey Energy, owner of mine operator Aracoma Coal, said the company was "very optimistic."
Key differences
Air samples from a hole near the fire showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide, although not as severe as the levels at the Sago Mine. At one point, rescue teams were in the mine without breathing gear, Conaway said.
Robert Friend, acting deputy assistant secretary for MSHA, said there were some key differences between the Alma and Sago incidents.
The ventilation system continued to work at the Alma mine and no methane was detected coming out of the return, he said. That enabled rescuers to act more quickly.
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