Rescue efforts for six trapped miners could end tonight or early tomorrow morning.
Crews are busy Saturday drilling the sixth and possibly final borehole in the Crandall Canyon Mine, and could break through late tonight or early Sunday morning at the Crandall Canyon Mine, MSHA spokesman Rich Kulczewski said.
If no signs of life are found at the bottom of the hole, mine owner Bob Murray has said he will abandon the rescue of Carlos Payan, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Brandon Phillips, Manuel Sanchez and Kerry Allred.
The six miners became trapped nearly 1,900 feet underground when a portion of the mine collapsed Aug. 6 in a seismic event that registered 3.9 on the Richter scale. Since then, rescuers have been frantically drilling and digging to reach them.
On Aug. 16, another cave-in at the Crandall Canyon Mine killed three rescuers and injured six others. Three of the six have been released from hospitals, while the other three remain hospitalized in varying conditions.
Crews have already drilled five other holes in an effort to find the trapped miners, but turned up nothing.
As of Friday evening, MSHA officials said the sixth borehole had gone more than 740 feet toward a target depth of 1,783 feet. MSHA officials did not immediately return phone calls Saturday afternoon.
The families are demanding that Murray make good on his promise to bring back "dead or alive." Theyive even hinted at taking legal action to make that happen.
"Letis hope we can get through," said Paula Christensen, whois cousin, Don Erickson, was trapped during the initial mine collapse. "I donit think they need to be buried down there."
Family spokesman Sonny Olsen has also said that it is a "possibility" families will ask a judge for a temporary restraining order to stop the mine from being sealed.
"Do not let Mr. Murray do this," he said Thursday. "We want these men returned alive or, heaven forbid, dead. Don't let them leave these men in the mine. Do not let them bury them in the mine."
Their insistence that Crandall Canyon not become a tomb for the trapped men came on the same day Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said it was too soon to give up on reaching the victims.
Rep. Brad King, D-Price, has been in close contact with the minersi families since the cave-in, and said they havenit given up yet.
"They still have faith and hope that some good will happen, but of course they know time is of the essence," he told the Deseret Morning News. "They know this is an industry where there is a possibility you don't come home at night.
Contributing Wendy Leonard