Rescuers Inches From Aussie Miners

Rescuers battling to reach two Australian miners entombed in a collapsed gold mine said they were directly beneath the men late Monday, with as little as 12 inches of hard rock left to cut.

Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, who have been lodged in a steel cage beneath tons of fallen rocks almost 3,000 feet underground since April 25, were helping their rescuers Monday prepare for the final risky push to free them. They were spreading a substance called grout over loose rocks beneath their cage in an effort to prevent fresh rock falls when miners tunneling toward them from below finally break through, mine manager Matthew Gill said.

Webb and Russell were found alive more than a week ago, nearly a week after an earthquake triggered a rock collapse that trapped them and killed their colleague Larry Knight, and since then frantic efforts to rescue them from Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Australia's Tasmania state have captivated the nation.

On Monday, the rescue operation suffered further delays 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 and smaller rocks known as fill that made up the floor of the mine shaft still separates the rescue team from the two trapped miners.

Union official Bill Shorten said workers were shoring up a rescue tunnel Monday to avoid a cave-in when they finally drill through to the men.

"If you dislodge this fill in the wrong way all of a sudden a whole lot of other dirt can fall into this tunnel and you could dislodge the rocks which led to the fatality of Larry Knight," Shorten told Australian television's Nine network.

"They've got to get through but not upset the rest of the rockscape around where these men have been trapped for 13 nights," he added.

Through the night, miners toiled 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.

Officials said the miners had successfully drilled a narrow probe up through the crust which confirmed they were directly below the men and were in the right position to cut the vertical shaft into the cavity where the men are trapped.

Rescuers have joked the operation may be further complicated by the size of the men, who have been eating five square 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 an escape tunnel through more than 45 feet of rock using a giant drilling machine.

A funeral for Knight, 44, who was killed in the April 25 rock fall, was scheduled for Tuesday in nearby Launceston. Knight's family had delayed the service, hoping the two trapped miners would be able to attend, but have given up waiting.

Anglican minister Chris Thiple said Knight's family decided they could not postpone the service any longer.

"They are stunning people and I'm very, very surprised they've been able to endure it for this long," he said.

"But they've reached a point where they are saying 'Well, we need to say goodbye' and bring some closure to some difficult times in their life.'"
By RICK RYCROFT