Contribute to Miners' Families, if you can (updated)

As you likely know, three rescuers were killed last night and many injured trying to reach the miners who have not been heard from in the 12 days after a cave in at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County, Utah.

If you can, please send a few bucks to the fund to aid the families of the miners at:

Just got off the phone with Zions Bank. There are TWO donation funds:

Crandall Canyon Family Support Donation
account #: 047342613

Crandall Canyon Rescue Worker Donation
account #: 047342639

(Make check out to the fund name.)

MAIL TO:
Zions Bank
P.O. Box 30709
Salt Lake City, Utah
84119

(You can put the account # corresponding to the fund on the envelope to speed processing.)

by Horsefeathers on Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 11:10:32 AM PDT

Credit card donations

You can also donate by phone using your credit card. Call Zion's customer service number and they will transfer you.

1-800-974-8800

by Horsefeathers on Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 11:28:24 AM PDT

(Double Thanks to Horsefeathers for getting the details.)

The mining company has not identified the miners, but The Associated Press has. According to family and friends, they are: Carlos Payan, in his 20s; Kerry Allred, 57; Manuel Sanchez, 41; Brandon Phillips, 24; Luis Hernandez, 23; and Erickson, 50.

The names of the three who died during the rescue attempt last night have not yet been made public.

Here are some links to the latest coverage in the Salt Lake Tribune which has done a good job on their local story.

Brothers come in a time of need
By Olga Muñoz
Special to The Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/...
Article Last Updated:08/17/2007 02:22:07 AM MDT
HUNTINGTON - Two brothers of Luis Alonso Hernandez, one of the miners trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine, have arrived from Mexico to offer comfort to their loved ones in this central Utah town, a Mexican consul said.
   The brothers flew out of Culiacan, Mexico, on Wednesday,
   
   
   Rescuers' families brace as horror of latest mine cave-in unfolds
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/...

Gov. questions risking any more lives
Cave-in that killed three rescuers could end underground effort to reach trapped miners
Above-ground borehole drilling continues
By Mike Gorrell and Peg McEntee
The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/...
Article Last Updated:08/17/2007

Three rescuers are now dead (story not updated)
   
Two rescuers killed, others injured in another cave-in at Crandall Canyon mine
By Patty Henetz and Jason Bergreen
The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/...

Article Last Updated:08/16/2007 11:01:31 PM MDT
Posted: 10:42 PM- Two rescuers were killed in a cave-in tonight during the search and rescue operation for six trapped miners in the Crandall Canyon mine.

   
Fourth borehole redirected toward spot
Faint 'noise' from deep inside mine brings flicker of hope for Crandall Canyon 6
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/...
Article Last Updated:08/16/2007 06:18:41 AM MDT
Updated 6:17 AM- HUNTINGTON - A camera lowered into a third borehole driven deep into a central Utah mountain showed no signs of six trapped miners - but faint noise picked up deep inside the Crandall Canyon Mine was providing a flicker of hope today.

This story includes good map of US coal-mining regions    
Despite tragedies, 'coal is what these two counties live for'
By Jeremiah Stettler
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:08/13/2007 03:12:44 AM MDT
http://www.sltrib.com/...

...  Coal mining cuts deep into the rugged Book Cliffs and Wasatch Plateau here, employing more than 1,600 people and producing 70 percent of the state's coal supply. It's a booming industry that yielded more coal than the entire state of Arizona last year and contributed heavily to Utah's ranking as the 12th-highest coal producer in the country.
   "It's just in our blood," said schoolteacher Traci Harmond, of Helper.
   The recent collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine probably won't change that, historians say. It hasn't yet, even with all the economic downturns endemic to the business, and mine disasters that eclipse the collapse that leaves six miners imprisoned in the mountains west of Huntington.
   Among the most tragic chapters in Carbon County history occurred on May 1, 1900, when an explosion - likely caused by methane gas or coal dust - killed more than 200 people at the Winter Quarters mine near Scofield.
   The aftermath was excruciating, Martell said. Nearly every family lost a husband or father in the blast. Many also lost sons - a roster of fatalities shows 15 boys younger than 15 years old.
   One month after that earth-shaking explosion, the mine reopened with full employment.
   "The day after they cleared the mine, there was a line of miners ready to go back in," Martell said. "They never had a shortage of miners."
   History has repeated itself time and again in these coal-dusted communities, where work has continued in the face of tragedy. It happened in 1924 when an explosion killed 170 workers at the Castle Gate mine. It happened again in 1930 when an explosion roared through the Standardville mine, killing 20 employees.
   But coal mining has continued year after year, providing livelihoods not only for the miners, but also for the truck drivers, welders, mechanics and other occupations that support them....

I'm working and can't babysit this abbreviated diary but everyone knows the generosity of dkossers is legendary.