Aussie Miners Just 5 Feet From Freedom

A rescue operation to free two Australian gold miners trapped underground since April 25th suffered further delays Monday, as teams were forced to shore up an escape shaft before trying to cut through the final yard of a rock barrier.

A crust of tough rock separates the rescue team from Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, who became trapped in a steel cage almost 3,000 feet underground in a mine collapse that killed a co-worker.

Union official Bill Shorten said rescue workers may have to spend all Monday preparing a vertical shaft to avoid a cave-in when they finally drill through to the men.

"The best information we have received is that it could take a number of hours to prepare the vertical shaft," Shorten told reporters gathered outside the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in the southern island state of Tasmania. "This could take all day."

"It is still precarious," Shorten added. "This work is complex and difficult, unique in its challenges, that's why they have to set it up right."

"Most Olympic athletes would struggle in the conditions these hard rock miners are working in," Shorten told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "It's not glamorous, they are average men who are doing outstanding things."

He said Webb and Russell are coping well with the delays and said they are in the "right mental state."

Sunday, Australians got another shock as one of the nation's best known journalists collapsed and died outside the gold mine – minutes after questioning the mine's manager about safety. Richard Carleton, 62, was a reporter for the Nine Network's "60 Minutes" program. He is believed to have suffered a heart attack.

Prime Minister John Howard says he is "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."

Rescue workers at Beaconsfield are pushing forward in cramped conditions with hand-held pneumatic drills to cut through the rock. Explosive specialists also set small charges to try to break up the barrier, which has substantially slowed the progress of the rescue tunnel.

Mine manager Matthew Gill said miners will drill narrow probes up through the crust and ask the trapped pair to report their precise location to help guide the cutting of the vertical shaft.

"Reports from underground this morning are that Todd and Brant remain in reasonable health and good spirits," he said, adding that the temperature in the cavity where they have been trapped for some 300 hours is a comfortable 77 degrees.

"Obviously they want to get out as soon as possible ... but they have said that they want the work to proceed safely."

Rescue workers have joked that the operation may be further complicated by the size of the men, who have been eating five meals a day, including omelets and homemade soup passed through a narrow pipe.

"They are big blokes," said Michael Lester, a public relations officer for the mine. "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 men, both married fathers of three children, have been trapped since an earthquake caused a rock fall 13 days ago. Protected by the steel safety cage they were working in, Webb and Russell suffered little more than scratches in the rock fall.

The pair survived for five days on a single cereal bar and by licking water seeping through the rocks around them. Rescuers discovered they were alive last Sunday when a thermal imaging camera picked up their body heat, and a day later began passing them food and water through a pipe forced through a hole drilled into the rock.

Over the past week, rescuers have bored through more than 45 feet of rock using a giant drilling machine in an effort to reach the men.

But cutting the final stage of the escape tunnel has been slow and difficult. Only one miner at a time can work in the cramped tunnel, and must wield an 88-pound drill above his head to cut vertically.

The mood was somber but determined at the mine. Officials had hoped the men would be freed in the early hours of Saturday morning, prompting hundreds of local residents to gather at the mine's gates eager to catch a glimpse of the men whose ordeal has turned them into national heroes. But celebrations have turned to frustration because of the slow progress.

Miner Larry Knight, 44, who was working in the same tunnel as Webb and Russell, was killed in the April 25 rock fall. His body was recovered two days later and his funeral was delayed by the family as they waited for news of his co-workers. The funeral has now been scheduled and will be on Tuesday.
By RICK RYCROFT