The desperate underground drive to reach six trapped miners was suspended indefinitely Friday after a cave-in killed three rescuers inside a mountainside mine, a federal official said according to AP. «Is there any possible way we can continue this underground operation and provide safety for the rescue workers? At this point we don't have an answer,» said Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. The collapse Thursday evening killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach six miners _ three of whom are from Mexico _ trapped Aug. 6 inside the mountain. Stickler said mine-safety experts were being summoned to central Utah to discuss the crisis. «Yesterday we went from a tragedy to a catastrophe,» Gov. Jon Huntsman said. He said the state would help federal officials in the investigation into the collapse. «We have questions, too, and we want answers to those questions. We want to make sure that the lives that were lost last night were not in vain,» Huntsman said. Outside the mountain, crews were drilling a fourth hole for any sign of the six men, whose survival status still was unknown on the 12th day of confinement. «Without question, we have suffered a setback and we have incurred an incredible loss, but this team remains focused on the task at hand» _ the rescue of the miners, said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., co-owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine.
