All 72 Trapped Canadian Miners Rescued
In Good Health After Fire In Mine Early Sunday Trapped Them Underground
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Play CBS Video Video 72 Canadian Miners Rescued All 72 people trapped in a Canadian mine have been rescued. Aleen Sirgany reports that a fire broke out early Sunday in the gas pipelines of the Saskatchewan mines and spread toxic gas.
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Mosaic Company Postash Mine after fire broke out, near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. Video still, Jan. 30, 2006. (AP /APTN)
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Mosaic Company spokesman Marshall Hamilton speaks with reporters about the condition of the miners trapped underground near Esterhazy, Canada, on Sunday Jan. 29, 2006. (AP)
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The K2 Postash Mine site near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, seen here after fire broke out at the mine, Jan. 29, 2006. (AP/Troy Fleece/CP)
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West Virginia Gov Joe Manchin hands out copies of the mine safety bill as sons and wife of mine fire victim Don Bragg look on during at the State Capitol, Thursday Jan. 26, 2006. (AP)
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Randal McCloy, seen here in a 2003 photo provided by his family, is able to respond to simple commands and follow movements with his eyes, Dr. Larry Roberts said. (AP)
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Photo Essay Mine Fire Anxious families and friends gather as disaster once again strikes a coal mine in West Virginia.
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Interactive Mine Tragedy Here is a closer look at the miners who perished in West Virginia and the people who are mourning them.
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Photo Essay Mine Explosion Tragedy unfolds after a coal mine explosion in Tallmansville, West Virginia.
The fire broke out early Sunday in the potash mine in central Canada, filling the tunnels with toxic smoke and sending the miners to take refuge in the sealed emergency rooms. The seventy-two miners were trapped more than a half-mile underground.
A rescue team reached one of the rooms late Sunday, after the mining company had been unable to establish a radio link with the 30 miners in that room for 18 hours.
They made sure everyone was safe, and then closed them back inside until the air inside the mine could be cleared of toxic gases, Hamilton said.
The other 40 miners were separated into two groups in other safe rooms, and were in phone contact with rescuers.
"They are glad to be on the surface," said Brian Hagan, director of health and safety for Dynatech, the contractor that employed the miners, adding they were not exposed to smoke. "They protected themselves and that is what they are trained to do."
"A lot of them said they had a good sleep down there in the refuge station," he said. "They were pretty calm. They had water, they had food, they had all the stuff that they needed."
The fire broke out in polyethylene piping around 3 a.m. Sunday nearly a half-mile underground in the province of Saskatchewan. It was not immediately clear how it started.
The miners reported smoke and quickly headed for the safe refuge rooms, which can be as large as 50 feet by 150 feet and have an internal supply of oxygen that lasts up to 36 hours, along with food, water, chairs and beds.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
