The Seventh-Inning Stretch

It has been almost a month since six Utah miners were trapped in the Crandall Canyon Mine.

On Monday, August 6, 2007, at 2:48 A.M. MDT, the mine collapsed, trapping six workers. The workers are believed to be a little over three miles from the entrance of the mine. But here we are over three weeks, and the odds of them still being alive are highly doubtful.

Robert Murray is part owner of the mine and has recently come under attack regarding the search for the miners. When the event unfolded in early August, Murray made a strong promise that he would not give up hope on finding the trapped men. But as of last week he has stated that the search has just become too dangerous and hope is fading- and now family members of the miners are calling him out. They want him to live up to his promise to bring the men home. Perhaps Murray shouldn't have dug himself such a deep hole. But you have to cut him a little slack, he had no idea it would turn into a long and disastrous search.

The dangerous search refers to three rescue workers who were killed when another part of the mine collapsed. Six other rescuers were injured and quickly pulled from the mine, leaving the open question on the stability of the mountain. Murray stated there was an earthquake that caused the collapse of the mine trapping the six men, other sources claimed no earthquake took place.

Murray stated that he has already filed paperwork to permanently close and seal the Crandall Canyon mine. "Had I known that this evil mountain, this alive mountain, would do what it did, I would never have sent the miners in here. I'll never go near that mountain again," he said.

I guess some people just can't get it through their heads that mining is a risky job. Who knows what really took place to cause such an accident. There is also the report that the mine was unstable and it shouldn't have been used. Once again another warning that was received without a second thought.

Though there are plans to close the mine, searches continue with a seventh hole being dug in an area that is hopefully close to the miners. This hole is a long shot and hopefully something will come from it- you could almost call it the seventh-inning stretch.

As of recent news, the seventh hole has shown nothing and searches are being suspended.