A jubilant crowd in Australia greets two miners who had been trapped for two weeks.
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 9, 2006
[AP Photo]
Brant Webb salutes from the back of an ambulance today. Two ambulances took the men to a hospital with their doors open so crowds could cheer the national heroes.
BEACONSFIELD, Australia - Two Australian miners who survived for two weeks in a kennel-sized cage trapped 3,000 feet underground walked out of the Beaconsfield gold mine early today and punched the air, freed by rescue crews drilling round-the-clock by hand.
Hundreds of well-wishers gathered at the mine gates erupted in cheers when Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, emerged.
The miners bear-hugged family and friends before clambering into two ambulances, still laughing and joking. Before going, they removed their identity tags from the wall outside the elevator - a standard safety measure carried out by all miners when they finish a shift.
They also handed out small cards that read: "The Great Escape. To all who have helped and supported us and our families, we cannot wait to shake your hand and (buy) you a Sustagen," referring to a nutrition drink the pair sipped during their ordeal. "Thanks is not enough."
Webb and Russell were buried after a small earthquake April 25 trapped the safety cage where they were working under tons of rock. Miner Larry Knight, 44, was killed, and Tuesday's rescue came hours before Knight's family planned to hold his funeral.
Teams of specialist miners bored through more than 45 feet of rock over the past week with a giant drilling machine. But cutting the final sections of the escape tunnel was slow and difficult, as the men used hand tools to avoid causing a cave-in.
For 300 hours, the two miners had huddled in the 4-foot-tall cage until rescuers broke through the last crust of rock, five times harder than concrete, to reach them.
Rescuers performing the last drilling could only work one at a time on their backs in the cramped tunnel, wielding hand-held pneumatic drills, diamond-tipped chain saws and jackhammers as heavy as 88 pounds.
Starting at 4:47 a.m. local time, the men crept out of the cage and into the narrow escape tunnel. An underground medical check found them in good health and able to walk out of the mine.
The two ambulances drove slowly to a nearby hospital with the doors open so crowds could see the two men who have become national heroes.
They were reported in good condition and transferred to the inpatient unit, said Launceston General Hospital director Stephen Ayre.
Throughout the rescue, the good spirits of the miners, both married with three children, amazed those struggling to reach them.
