MIDDLESBORO, Ky. ? Three men trapped all day Monday in a coal mine flooded by overnight rains have moved to dry ground under the earth while awaiting rescue and were regularly communicating with officials at the surface, authorities said.
An entrance to the southeastern Kentucky mine collapsed at about 6:40 a.m. and water began pouring in from a swollen drainage ditch.
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet spokesman Dick Brown said the soonest the men could be brought out was early Monday evening. He told The Associated Press that water was being pumped out and that "we're just waiting for it to get low enough so they can wade out."
Families gathered in Middlesboro near the site where they were being briefed on the conditions of Parnell Witherspoon, Doug Warren and Russell Asher. Also, a state-trained mine rescue team was on hand at the mine along the Tennessee and Virginia borders.
The men aren't hurt and have been communicating regularly with rescuers, said Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere (LOO'-vee-air). The mine is owned by Richmond, Va.-based James River Coal and operated by Bell County Coal.
One member of each miner's family was taken to the site to talk to the men via underground phone, Louviere said.
Crews were pumping 1,100 gallons of water per minute from the Jellico No. 1 mine and an additional power center was being set up to run more pumps, Louviere said. By early evening, the water had dropped 18 to 24 inches.
Brown said the miners would likely be examined at a hospital before being allowed to go home.
A ditch above the entrance collapsed when a piece of the mine's roof fell early morning and water rushed in, officials said.
Bell County Coal started operations there Jan. 23, 2009, according to MSHA records.
The mine, one of four Bell County Coal has listed with MSHA, has been cited 32 times during inspections that started in April, according to records. The company has been cited a total of 82 times since 2009 for a variety of reasons, from inadequate roof supports to accumulating dust to issues with the electrical system. The company has been assessed fines from $100 to as nearly $4,000, but is contesting nearly three-quarters of the citations.
Tony Oppegard, a Lexington attorney who specializes in mine safety, said those trapped in a mine with water coming in would normally head for the highest point. If James River Coal put a refuge chamber in the mine, that would give the miners a place to go with enough provisions for 72 hours, Oppegard said.
"There's been a great increase in mine rescue teams since the disasters of the last several years," Oppegard said.
Kentucky is the lone state where mine inspectors also comprise the rescue squads, meaning the people searching for those trapped should already be familiar with the terrain, Oppegard said.
James River Coal has an in-house rescue squad, whose members should be familiar with the mine, Oppegard said.
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