Trapped miners free

[AussieDave]

"Rescuers have reached the two men trapped in the Beaconsfield Gold mine for the past 14 days.

Brant Webb, 37, was the first to be rescued at 4:47am AEST.

At 4:54am, 34-year-old Todd Russell was plucked from the cage the two men have been crouching in."

more at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1633703.htm

The men are now on the surface and walking around - they had been trapped underground since April 25. Rescued a little over an hour ago.

Beaconsfield, in northern Tasmania.


(edited to add extra information)

[Midlodemocrat]

1. What good news.

Finally, a mining accident with a happy ending.

[Roland99]

2. YES!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Thank goodness. Were they the only two down there?

[AussieDave]

5. One miner was killed in the original collapse, but yes only the two alive

and rescued.

By a terrible coincidence, the dead miner's funeral is to be held later today. The family was trying to hold off until the other two were rescued, but then couldn't wait any longer - the rescue took longer than expected.

[SoCalDem]

4. Sounds like our mine operators need some lessons

Maybe they could tour American mines and teach them how to save the lives of OUR miners

[livetohike]

6. That's great news!

I'm glad there was a positive outcome for those guys and their families.

[AnneD]

7. Hurrah....

A happy ending to a potentially tragic tale.

[Peanutcat]

8. YAY!

Always like hearing good news!

[AussieDave]

9. Another link - the whole of Australia has been hanging on this

for nearly two weeks

http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/story/0,20797,19074736-952,00.html
(Brisbane Courier-Mail newspaper)

[MissB]

10. Excellent!

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

11. That's great! Didn't the one miner "resign" while trapped?

While they were talking to him underground he made sure to tell them "I quit"???

[AussieDave]

12. Yes - in one of many light moments

They kept up a sense of humor the whole time. They also referred to their little "tomb" as a "two-star hotel", where they were the two stars........

They will NOT be retuning to the profession, and a shitfight will now start as to whether the mine will remain open at all. There's more about this accident to come out.

[MissB]

14. Two star hotel?

:rofl: Great sense of humor!

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

13. Kick for good news.

:kick:

[TX-RAT]

15. Great News

[AussieDave]

16. Another link (shameless kick)

from the Channel 9 News network:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=99319

[truthisfreedom]

17. Amazing. absolutely amazing.

what an incredible effort.

[Caoimhe]

18. Another sad part: A famous Aussie TV Reporter died of a heart attack

minutes after asking a question at Sunday afternoon's news conference at the mine. Richard Carleton, 62, was an award-winning reporter with the Nine Network's "60 Minutes".

<snip>

Prime Minister John Howard said he was "shocked and saddened" by the death, while opposition leader Kim Beazley described Carleton as an "icon of the Australian media, with an enviable reputation for creative and forceful interviews."

He was a regular and enduring face on Australian television since joining the Australian Broadcasting Corp. as a 22-year-old political correspondent in the capital Canberra. In 1997 he moved to London and worked for two years with the British Broadcasting Corp. before joining Nine Network's 60 Minutes.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060508/ts_nm/australia_miners_dc

he's the one on the left in this picture

Very sad.



within moments he was on the ground.. and paramedics worked on him for over 20 minutes before transporting him to the hospital where he was declared DOA.

[AussieDave]

20. Yes - he asked one question (incisive as ever)

but he didn't look well and stammered a couple of times while asking it - so unlike him. Then he turned to the camera, gave a wry half-grin, walked a few steps and collapsed.

60 Minutes showed his final report (on the mine accident) that night (the day he died) - as usual, raising questions which will likely be investigated in the coming weeks.

Carleton's death is a sad loss to Australian journalism.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

21. wow, that's terrible.

it must be some comfort to know he died doing what he did best, i suppose.

[WePurrsevere]

19. This is wonderful news for them and their loved ones. Thank goodness....

they're out safe and sound. I remember hearing that they had been given i-Pods and loved ones were sending down care packages to them to help keep them occupied. B-)

[Captain Hilts]

22. GREAT news! nt

[NaturalHigh]

23. Thanks for posting this.

We could all use a little good news once in a while.

[roguevalley]

24. this is so good. the world needed this news. congrats Oz!