I am happy to say that the two miners (Todd Russell and Brant Webb) that were trapped underground two weeks ago this morning walked free.
At 04:50 local the men started their eagerly awaited journey to the surface, they stopped off half way up to get checked out by the mine resque services, they had a shower and got changed and then boarded the last elevator to the surface where they emerged at 05:50.
Upon surfacing, the first action they did was to grab their tags off the Red “Down” board and throw them away, one gave his tag to his favourite media crew here and the other just threw it on the ground, a clear indication that they are never going back down. They had expressed their wishes to the mine manager reguarding resignations, but he refused to listen in order to keep their spirits up throughout the ordeal. Jokes were passed, the boss was saying that he wants to have a word to them about laying down on the job, the guys were asking about their over time pay.
Above all, the two guys did what they said and walked out of the mine! But amongst all this there is a ting of sadness as well and it is good that the guys are out for today is the funeral of the third person that was caught in the earthquake, Larry Knight, who was killed when the tunnel collapsed, his body being discovered a week after the inccident. The two guys are able to attend the funeral of their fallen friend.
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By: Ja Worsley - 9th May 2006 at 08:14
One of the guys didn’t make it to the funeral this afternoon, apparently te ordeal being a bit too much for him, but who couldbegrudge him that? The other was seen on TV walking a bit stiff but after being cramped up in a cage 2.6M long by 1.2M high, it’s understandable that he would be walking funny.
The Town of Beconsfield, the State of Tasmania and the Nation of Australia all paused today with happiness that they were free and at 13:00 local all paused for a minutes silence in respect for Larry Knight who was laid to rest.
The mine now closed pending an official enquiry as to why the mine was allowed to continue operation after an earth tremor last year shook the mine, which then became unstable. For now, the nation goes back to normal life never forgetting that this was the day that the impossible became possible, prayers were answered and the light of hope shone through.
By: Canpark - 9th May 2006 at 07:24
I saw it live this morning, I hope the miners could have a good sleep.
By: Mark9 - 9th May 2006 at 07:12
Great news Ja, that was a rotten situation they were in and the rescue teams. A fantastic result. 😉
By: Shadow1 - 9th May 2006 at 07:07
I saw that this afternoon while I was catching up on the news. I happy that they were able to survive this horrendous time underground not knowing if they ever would survive. Congrats goes out to the rescue team for not giving up!
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May 8, 2006 at 10:42 pm