Huntington, Utah – The six men trapped by a huge mine collapse were remembered Sunday at an interfaith service on the football field of a junior high school in central Utah’s coal belt.
It was a public goodbye to the miners whose bodies remain entombed in the Crandall Canyon mine. About 1,000 people attended the ceremony.
Gov. Jon Huntsman hoped the community memorial service would allow the families, who spent almost a month hoping rescue efforts would turn up some sign of the missing men, to begin healing.
“There has been pain, discomfort and loss. These were real human beings who loved and were loved by others,” Huntsman told the audience.
Many brought blankets and sat on the football field during the service. Although informal, the atmosphere remained somber as people remembered the six missing miners and the three men who were killed during the rescue tunneling 10 days after the original collapse.
Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Manuel Sanchez were working more than 1,500 feet underground Aug. 6 when the mine collapsed.
For nearly four weeks, crews searched for the miners. Holes were drilled through the mountain into the mine in search of signs of life.
On Aug. 31, the Mine Safety and Health Administration said the search was ending and that their bodies may never be found.
U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, told the crowd Sunday he was hopeful that someday the bodies could be recovered.
“We cannot bring them back, but we can at least bring them home,” he said.
