HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) – A second drill broke through early Saturday to a mine shaft where officials hope to find six workers who were trapped when the mine collapsed, authorities said.

The hole cleared the way for a video camera to be lowered in an effort to provide the first answers to the miners’ fate.

The hole, nearly 9 inches wide, reached the mine shaft between 2 and 3 a.m., said Bob Murray, chief of mine co-owner Murray Energy Corp. Crews were removing the heavy drill steel and planned send down the camera within a few hours.

There has been no word from the miners since the Crandall Canyon mine collapsed early Monday. A microphone lowered into a smaller hole yielded no sounds of life and an air sample taken through the 2-inch hole detected little oxygen.

However, officials remained hopeful that the six men trapped in the mine were still alive.

“It’s always been a rescue mission,” Mr. Murray said after announcing the second drill hole was finished. “It’s coming all out in accordance with our plans, but it’s just too slow.”

Mr. Murray planned to meet with the miners’ families before providing more details. The first images from the camera were not expected until late Saturday morning.