Hopes fade for miners missing after 25 die

Rescue teams had hoped to return underground after bore holes were drilled to clear toxic gases from Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

"All we have left is hope, and we're going to continue to do what we can," said a spokesman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"But I'm just trying to be honest with everybody and say that the situation does look dire."

Although the cause of the blast was not known, the operation – run by Performance Coal – has a history of not properly ventilating highly combustible methane gas, safety officials said.

The spokesman said there were hopes some of the missing survived the initial blast on Monday and were able to reach airtight chambers

stocked with food, water and enough oxygen for four days.

However, when rescue teams checked one of the two nearest, it was empty. The build-up of toxic methane gas – a constant problem at the mine – and of carbon monoxide prevented teams from reaching the others.

A total of 29 miners were in the area during a shift change when the blast happened. Some may have died in the blast and others were killed by breathing the gas.

By yesterday afternoon, seven bodies had been recovered and identified, but another 18 had not.