“Crews have been progressing safely and quickly. However, as the crew advances closer (to where Marek may be), the work involved will become much more difficult, time consuming with new materials, equipment and supplies in order to advance the tunnel into potentially unstable ground.”-Hecla press release
So far 163 feet (49.6 meters) of solid rock has been blasted, to make a new tunnel to get to where rescuers think Larry Marek might be. They think they have 53 feet to go, before they hit an open space behind the debris of last Friday’s cave in.
Plans to start two new tunnels were canceled because the ground was just too unstable. Food and water has been passed through small holes made in the debris. A small camera was sent through but the images were not detailed enough. Bigger cameras are being brought in.