The silo collapsed at the Monterey Mine in Albers, Illinois, trapping the workers beneath it, said Tom Heuer, assistant chief of the Clin-Clair Fire District in Albers.

"It was a failure, a structural failure," Heuer said. "A large section of the wall of the silo broke free and suddenly fell outward, broke in half and pancaked down."

The two were drilling holes at the base of the silo to insert sticks of dynamite for demolition when the wall buckled. They worked for demolition and excavating companies contracted by the mine.

The coal mine, owned by Exxon Coal and Mineral Corp., was closed in the fall of 1996. The demolition work was part of the effort to close the mine and reclaim the site, about 30 miles southeast of here. Federal and state mine safety inspectors are investigating why the wall gave way.  
 
 
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