LOS ANGELES - One rescue worker died and eight others were injured as desperate efforts to locate six miners buried under a Utah mountain took a tragic turn on Thursday, officials said.
The fatality and injuries occurred after a seismic "bump" occurred as miners burrowed deep into the Genwal Mine in Crandall Canyon at around 6.35 pm local time (0035 GMT), US Labor Department spokesman Rich Kulczewski said.
"Nine miners were injured, one of those was fatal," the spokesman told reporters at the mine, which is located in a remote mountainous region around 120 miles (193 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City.
Kulczewski said the accident had been caused by a "seismic bump," which can occur when pressure bearing down on a mine forces a tunnel's roof, walls or floor to cave in.
More information about the accident would be released at a press briefing later Thursday, the spokesman said, refusing to speculate on whether the rescue effort would now be abandoned.
"That's something that has to be decided," Kulczewski told reporters.
The accident comes on the 11th day of a rescue operation to locate the six miners, who were buried 1,500 feet (450 meters) in a cave-in on August 6.
There has been no contact with the six miners since the accident, although officials have refused to give up hope of finding the men alive.
A team of rescuers -- all of whom are colleagues of the missing men -- have been digging slowly towards the chamber where the miners were believed to be working at the time of the collapse.
Their progress has been hindered by continuous seismic activity at the mine. Mine-owner Robert Murray said last weekend that current conditions in the mine were the "most difficult I have seen in over 50 years."
Rescuers have drilled three bore holes into the area of the mine where the men were believed to be working at the time of the initial accident but have so far detected no sign of life.
Earlier Thursday officials said had heard no further noises after a microphone picked up faint sounds that raised hopes the men may be alive.
Officials said Wednesday that a listening device detected five minutes worth of vibrations but rescuers were unable to pinpoint the source of the noise.
However Murray said there had been no further noises overnight, and played down hopes that the sounds could have been the six men signalling for help.
"We've said all along, those sounds could have been anything," Murray said. "They could have been anything from water running, somebody walking on the surface, or thunder which was going on when we picked those sounds up."
The Utah drama has revived memories of the doomed effort to reach 13 miners who were trapped after an explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia in January 2006. Twelve miners died and only one survived after being buried underground for 41 hours.
08/17/2007 04:56 GMT