The story

Efforts to reach six Utah coal miners trapped since Monday were taking longer than expected, a mining official said Thursday.

A 2½-inch drill hole was expected to reach the cavity where the miners are thought to be by midnight MT Thursday night (2 a.m. ET Friday). Earlier, Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp., the parent company of the Crandall Canyon Mine, said a breakthrough would come Thursday evening.

The drill hole, made by a helicopter-borne drilling rig, had gotten through 1,730 feet of earth by 6 p.m. MT (8 p.m. ET). Officials said the drill would pierce through the remaining 140 feet early Friday. Read full article »

CNN's Gary Tuchman, Ed Lavendera and Vivienne Foley contributed to this report.

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