Randy Fogle, first Pennsylvania miner rescued from Quecreek Mine, dies at 68

Randy Fogle, one of the Pennsylvania miners who was rescued from the Quecreek Mine in 2002, has died.

Fogle died Wednesday, almost 24 years after the dramatic Somerset County rescue that captured the nation. Fogle was the foreman when the Quecreek Mine flooded, trapping nine miners 240 feet underground.

On July 24, 2002, 18 miners reported to work at the Quecreek Mine and headed into the mine at 3 p.m. One crew of nine headed south, while the other nine went east.

All was well until just before 9 p.m. that night, when crews drilled into the abandoned Saxman Mine, sending 150 million gallons of groundwater flooding into Quecreek. One crew got out, but the other crew was trapped.

Rescue crews drilled an air hole, began pumping water out of the mine, and fashioned a rescue shaft. It took 77 hours, but all nine miners were brought out alive

Fogle was the first miner rescued because he had been suffering chest pains. A year later, Fogle was the only one of the nine who were rescued to return to work in the mines until he eventually retired.

Randy Fogle was 68 years old.