Mine owner subpoenaed by U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The owner of a Utah coal mine where six miners were entombed in August has been ordered to appear before a Senate panel next month.

Bob Murray, owner of the Crandall Canyon mine, failed to appear in September before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services.

Ranking member Arlen Spector, R-Pa., called Murray an "indispensable witness" who "flouted the authority" of the United States Senate by failing to appear to answer questions about the Aug. 6 mine disaster, CNN reported Saturday.

"We're going to get to the bottom of what went on there," Specter said Friday.

Six men died in the Aug. 6 mine collapse while two rescuers and a federal mining official were killed and six others hurt during the unsuccessful rescue attempt.

Murray has said that a small earthquake caused the mine collapse, while seismologists said it was more likely the collapse itself caused the quake, which registered a 3.9-magnitude.