iPod relief for trapped miners

May 3rd, 2006, 18:49 Posted By: wraggster

Via theage

Two men trapped in a Tasmanian mine for more than a week are listening to iPods while rescuers prepare to start a new drilling operation in a bid to free them.

Drilling to free the pair, who are trapped in a cage beneath 12 metres of rock, is expected to begin at about 3.30pm.

The men, Todd Russell and Brant Webb, were trapped in Beaconsfield Gold Mine in northern Tasmania after a rock fall, which killed fellow miner Larry Knight, last Tuesday evening.

They were discovered alive on Sunday night and were finally given nutrition on Monday night when a small via a PVC pipe. Since then, they have had a regular supply of food, water, dry clothes and blankets.

Mine operators say drilling will take about 48 hours.

A digital camera has also been passed to the men so they can show rescuers and medical staff their surroundings and what is happening to them.

"They are able to point the camera around the various parts of their fairly cramped environment," Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten told reporters.

"That helps actually guide the rescuers to the best spot to rescue the blokes, so the blokes are helping to rescue themselves," he said.

If all goes well with the final stages of the rescue operation, Mr Russell and Mr Webb are likely to be breathing fresh air — above ground — on Friday afternoon.

Age reporter Gary Tippet said from the scene that rescue crews were waiting for the drilling machine's concrete base to set before they could begin boring through to the men.

Creature comforts

But Mr Russell and Mr Webb are still in good spirits, according to union representatives, after they received deodorant, toothpaste and other creature comforts last night.

The two miners had also been given music to keep them entertained while they wait.

Rescuers were in constant contact with the trapped men, mine manager Matthew Gill said in a statement released this morning.

"They remain in good health and have now received iPods so they can listen to their favourite music,'' he said.

It is believed that one of the men has asked for country music.

Concrete base

Mr Gill said overnight eight truck loads of concrete were sent down the mine to create an even pad for the Raise Borer which rescuers hope will drill through the rock imprisoning the two miners.

"That work was completed early this morning but the concrete needs time to cure,'' Mr Gill said.

"The Raise Borer will then be bolted through the pad into the rock beneath to ensure it has a stable platform. The positioning of the Raise Borer must be precise to ensure the bore hole comes out where intended,'' he said.

While hygiene appears to have been a problem for the men during the first days of their ordeal, water dripping down through the mine shaft and water sent down to the men by rescuers has allowed them to wash most waste away from the cramped cage where they have been confined.

Shrink-wrapped deliveries

The men are now comfortable and dry courtesy of some shrink wrap that rescuers used to help deliver fresh clothes to them. The clothes were sent down the nine-centimetre diameter pipe that rescuers have used to communicate with Mr Russell and Mr Webb.

Letters sent to the miners from their families are also helping them to endure the situation.

Tasmanian Ambulance Service northern region superintendent Wolfgang Rechberger today said the two miners were being delivered water every hour and food every eight hours.

"We have a feeding regime in place. They're getting water, they're getting food and we're doing our best to keep them in good spirits," he told reporters at the scene.

He said Tasmanian paramedics were liaising with the NSW ambulance service and other experts with experience in underground rescues.

Mr Rechberger said two paramedics were in the mine monitoring Mr Webb and Mr Russell at all times.

"They're doing remarkably well at the moment, we're very pleased with the condition that they're in," he told Channel Nine.

"Emotionally they're holding up very well at this point in time."

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