Encouraged by a tinny tapping sound coming up from the depths, rescuers brought in a huge drill Thursday in a race to save nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground in a dark shaft filling up quickly with millions of gallons of frigid water.
More than 16 hours have elapsed since definite signs of life were last heard from the miners, who had been tapping on a six-inch (15-cm) pipe casing used to pump compressed air into the underground cavity.
"That doesn't necessarily mean bad news," said Hess, suggesting the men may have moved to a different location or that tapping had been drowned out by the noise of activity on the surface.
