OT-The miners are free!
Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 5:31 amBEACONSFIELD, Australia (CNN) -- Rescuers have freed two Australian gold miners who had been trapped underground for two weeks after a rock fall that killed another miner, according to the mine manager.
A rescue team in Tasmania had been trying to reach the miners, who were half a mile underground inside a protective cage.
The searchers drilled through rock to reach the miners, Todd Russell, 35, and Brant Webb, 37, who were trapped by a rock fall that killed their 44-year-old colleague Larry Knight.
Officials at Beaconsfield Gold Mine in the Australian island state said earlier a small probe had broken through.
The two men, both married fathers of three, had oxygen and have been receiving food, water and items like magazines through a plastic pipe since they were found alive on April 30.
Protected by the steel safety cage they were working in, Webb and Russell were reported to have suffered little more than scratches in the rock fall.
Rescuers earlier said they were just a meter (three feet) from the men and had to drill upwards through the rock to reach them. The miners were asked to help in the rescue effort by preparing the cavity in which they are stuck.
They were asked to solidify any loose rocks they can reach and to prepare an area on the floor where the rescuers will eventually break through.
A third miner, Larry Knight, 44, was killed in the quake. Knight's family said they would hold his funeral Tuesday in Launceston.
Rescuers reached the men Thursday through a 16 meter (52 feet) pilot tunnel, but it was not large enough for the miners to fit through. (Watch how the men are awaiting rescue in the gold mine -- 3:08)
Concerns that large vibrations could dislodge more rock and cause another cave-in forced rescue specialists to use hand tools, including jackhammers and a chainsaw, to work towards the men. (Watch how rescuers are trying to make it to the miners -- 3:05 )
The rescuers also used low-impact explosives to split the rocks so they could chisel them away.
Rescue organizers described the final section of rock being removed as being "five time harder than concrete".
Union official Bill Shorten said earlier Monday workers were shoring up a rescue tunnel Monday to avoid a cave-in when they drilled through to the men.
"If you dislodge this fill in the wrong way all of a sudden a whole lot of other dirt can fall into this tunnel and you could dislodge the rocks which led to the fatality of Larry Knight," Shorten told Australian television's Nine network.
"They've got to get through but not upset the rest of the rockscape around where these men have been trapped," he added.
Before the rescue, the miners were described as being in good spirits. One of the men has joked that he is resigning from the mine, and asked for a newspaper so he could check the help-wanted ads.
Rescuers joked the operation could be complicated by the size of the men, who have been eating five meals a day, including omelets and soup passed through the narrow pipe.
"They are big blokes," mine spokesman Michael Lester told The Associated Press. "They have been joking that if they keep eating as well as they have, the tunnel will have to be greased to get them out."
The frantic efforts to rescue the miners has captivated Australia.
