By PAULINE ARRILLAGA
The Associated Press

HUNTINGTON, Utah - Rescue crews drilling into a mountain to bring air and food to six trapped miners were two-thirds of the way to their target with one of two holes late Wednesday, officials said.

A 2 1/2-inch hole was drilled to 1,000 feet by 11:30 p.m. MDT, said Lane Adair, general manager of the Crandall Mine, where the men were caught in a collapse early Monday.

The miners were believed to be in an area 1,500 feet below ground, according to Bob Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp., part-owner of the mine.

The smaller hole is intended to ferry a communications line into the shaft. There has been no contact with the miners, and it’s not known if they survived the collapse, which was so powerful that it rained rock and blew apart the ventilation system.

Rescuers have drilled the smaller hole at a rate of 60 feet per hour but that pace likely will slow. Still, the company predicted both holes could be finished in 48 hours or less.