Rescuers try fourth search of West Virginia mine

MONTCOAL, West Virginia (Reuters) - Rescuers headed back into a West Virginia coal mine on Friday in a fourth bid to search for four miners missing since the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in a quarter century.

The search crews hope to reach a refuge chamber that officials say is the miners' only chance of survival after an explosion on Monday at the Massey Energy mine that killed at least 25 miners.

"There's always hope," said Kevin Stricklin of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration at a news briefing. "We're confident that if they get in there and they were alive that we would be able to still rescue them."

"If they didn't make it to this refuge chamber, they didn't survive," he added.

Rescuers could reach the refuge chamber in the Upper Big Branch mine by about 7 p.m. EDT, he said.

Five truckloads of nitrogen were pumped into the mine, neutralizing the threat of an explosion, he said.

"We should not have any smoke or fire, and we will have the ability to get up to that refuge chamber and evaluate if it has been deployed or not," Stricklin said.

Three earlier efforts by rescuers were thwarted by thick smoke, fire and an explosive build-up of methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Rescuers also were taking a different route through the mine to the rescue chamber that would allow them to avoid much of the smoke still inside, officials said.

"Not a whole lot has gone our way. This nitrogen injection seems to have helped and has gone our way," Stricklin said.

Efforts to drill a borehole and lower a remote camera into the mine failed when the drill struck an underground pillar.

The refuge chamber holds enough food, water and oxygen to keep 15 people alive for 96 hours, and officials say the supplies could sustain four miners for longer.

OBAMA OFFERS CONDOLENCES

At the White House, President Barack Obama offered his condolences to victims' families and his hope that the missing miners could be found alive at the mine, about 30 miles south of the state capital Charleston.

"For the four missing miners we're praying for a miracle," said Obama, who has ordered mine safety officials to report next week on the explosion, the mine's safety record and what steps the government could take to prevent further disasters.

"It's a profession that's not without risks and danger and the workers and their families know that," he said.

"But their government and their employer know that they owe it to these families to do everything possible to ensure their safety when they go to work each day," he said. "It's clear more needs to be done."

Obama spoke about miner Tim Davis, and his nephews, Josh and Cory, who were killed and whose bodies were found together. Before he left for work on the day of the blast, Josh wrote a letter for his girlfriend and young daughter, Obama said.

"In it he said: 'If anything happens to me, I will be looking down from heaven at you all. I love you. Take care of my baby, tell her that Daddy loves her, she's beautiful, she's funny. Just take care of my baby girl," he said.

The Upper Branch mine blast is the deadliest U.S. mining disaster since 27 miners died in a fire in Utah in 1984.

Massey told shareholders in a public letter it planned to reopen the mine "at some point in the future," and in the meantime would increase production at its other mines and put Upper Big Branch miners back to work.

Shares of Massey were up about 2 percent on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trading on Friday after losing more than 10 percent since the accident. Analysts predict the company will see long-term financial health.

Questions have risen about safety at Massey, the largest coal producer in the Central Appalachia mountain region. The company has defended its record, saying its accident rate hit an all-time low in 2009.

"Media reports suggesting that the UBB tragedy was the result of a willful disregard for safety regulations are completely unfounded," Massey said in its statement. It said its lost-time incident rate had been better than the industry average for 17 of the past 19 years.

Federal records show Upper Big Branch had three fatalities since 1998, a worse-than-average injury rate in the past 10 years and was cited for more than 100 safety violations this year. Massey said Upper Big Branch's violation rate was "consistent with national averages."

(Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, editing by Michelle Nichols and Jackie Frank)