Carbon monoxide eyed in Ariz. mine deaths

SHOW LOW, Ariz., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. mine safety officials headed to northern Arizona Monday to investigate the deaths of two workers apparently killed by carbon monoxide in a mine shaft.

Officials were unable to enter the shaft Monday because of high levels of carbon monoxide, being measured by a monitoring device at the entrance, the White Mountain Independent in Show Low, Ariz., reported

Federal mine safety officials halted recovery efforts on Sunday and were expected to arrive Monday afternoon.

The victims, Harold "Bud" Robinson, 72, and his son-in-law, Jeremy Joseph Baker, 25, entered the Navajo County mine Saturday morning after setting off blasts the day before.

A worker's relative, Patricia Robinson, came to the mine, 13 miles off State Highway 61 in the Show Low Pines area after the miners failed to return home from their shift.

Robinson said she climbed out after becoming disoriented.

The blasts were being set off in the shaft as part of excavation work that began about eight years ago.

The Independent reported unstable explosives, including blasting caps, ammonium nitrate and dynamite, were stored at the mine. An explosives disposal team was called in Sunday.