(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-11 02:17

HUNTINGTON, Utah - Rescuers drilling a tiny hole nearly 1,900 feet deep to make contact with six coal miners caught in a cave-in four days ago might have missed and punched into a neighboring chamber, officials said Friday.

An initial air sample taken through the hole indicated enough oxygen to support life, but later readings showed dangerously low levels known to exist in a sealed chamber next to the one the miners were thought to be trapped in, said Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A microphone dropped down the 2 1/2-inch-wide borehole picked up no evidence the men had survived, but rescuers expected a second, wider hole that could accommodate a camera food and water to be finished by Friday night, Stickler said.

"There's no reason to lose hope. There are certain possibilities that these miners are still alive," he said.

The hole made with a steel drill bit for the microphone went down more than 1,800 feet from the side of the mountain above the mine. Authorities had warned that such a small drill could drift from its target.

"It is disappointing. No one could admit otherwise in this case," said John Baza, director of Utah's Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. "But hope is the thing we have to cling to. Everyone is doing everything that they can to try to get those miners out and to try to reach them."

Work also continued in the mine itself, where rescuers were slowly burrowing through the debris to reach the workers.

"It's incredibly labor-intensive," said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., a co-owner of the Crandall Canyon mine.

If the miners are alive, they would be sitting in darkness, wearing thin work clothes in the 58-degree cold, other miners said. Each miner would typically have had a half-gallon of water.

At the time of Monday's collapse, the six miners were working in an area with an 8-foot ceiling. Corridors in the mine are typically about 14 feet wide.

The mining company has withheld the names of the six miners. The Associated Press has confirmed five identities: Carlos Payan, Don Erickson, Kerry Allred, Manuel Sanchez and Brandon Phillips.

The men's families were praying for their survival, one relative said.

"There are all types of conditions that could be in there for these folks ... some little cavity, some little corner," said Arch Allred, cousin of miner Kerry Allred.