HUNTINGTON — The fate of six trapped miners could be known within hours.
Crews broke through the sixth and possibly final borehole at 6:02 p.m. Saturday, according to a posting on the Mine Safety and Health Administration Web site.
"No void space is believed to have been detected," according to the posting.
If no signs of life are found at the bottom of the hole, mine owner Bob Murray has said he will abandon attempts to rescue Carlos Payan, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Brandon Phillips, Manuel Sanchez and Kerry Allred.
MSHA crews are evaluating the hole and could hold a press conference with results Sunday.
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 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 already have drilled five other holes in hopes of finding the trapped miners, but those efforts turned up nothing.
The families of the trapped miners are demanding that Murray make good on his promise to bring them back "dead or alive." They've even hinted at taking legal action to make that happen.
"Let's hope we can get through," said Paula Christensen, a cousin of Don Erickson. "I don't think they need to be buried down there."
Family spokesman Sonny Olsen has said it is a "possibility" the families will ask a judge for a temporary restraining order to stop the mine from being sealed.
"Do not let Mr. Murray do this," Olsen 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."
The families' insistence that the Crandall Canyon Mine 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 miners' families since the cave-in, and said they haven't 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."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com