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Topic: Trapped Aussie miners. Still down below! (NSC) Return to archive
8th May 2006 07:24 AM
corgi37 For nearly 2 weeks, the whole nation has held its breath as two trapped miners await rescue from a collapsed mine. A small earthquake hit Tasmania around Aug 25, collapsing the mine. 1 bloke died. 2 others, thought dead initially, were discovered alive 2-3 days later.

They are still there!

They are 1 kilometre underground. Poor fuckers. A narrow pvc tube has connected them to rescue teams. Through it, has been passed food, drink, ipods and clothes. The news has hit around the world. Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters heard one of the men asked for a ipod of Foo Fighters music. Well, old Dave sent an email and promised the guys free tix to any show, anywhere, and beer, beer, beer.

In true Aussie spirit, the guys have requested a newspaper. As they say they quit and want to look for a new job. They have demanded that they will walk out, not out on stretchers (we'lll see). They have requested the ambulance pass by a McDonalds drive-thru - with lights/sirens on.

The funeral for the guy killed was held off as long as possible because his family wanted the trapped miners to attend. But, rescue has taken about a week longer than anticipated. Hopefully, they will be out tomorrow. The funeral for the other chap is tomorrow or Wednesday i think.

1 bloke wants Russell Crowe to play him in the movie.
I think the other one said he would play himself.

They are confined in a 1.5 x 1.5 metre cage that was on the end of a cherry picker. They call there trapped location a "2 star hotel".

And call themselves the "2 stars".

A very famous Aussie reporter, who has been on our version of 60 Minutes for about 10 years, had a heart attack and died yesterday while on location outside the mine.

This country will go nuts when they get released. Many top flight "A&R" men have flown down, open cheque books at the ready. One of them, Harry M. Miller, was the bloke who brought HAIR to Oz, and toured the Stones in 73.

He was also jailed for embezzlement in the 80's.

Me? Well, i'm ok. A bit tired, but doing well. Gotta lay off the booze and herb a bit.

Just thought i'd share this with people as it seems no other fucker gives a shit about anything but dull old U.S. fucking politics.

Come Armageddon, "THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!"

South-ern Hemisphere that is!
8th May 2006 07:44 AM
Daethgod well said corgster

hope the guys get out tomorrow

13 days and nights stuck in a cage 1km underground and they keep their sense of humour... how Aussie

godspeed to em, hope to fark they get out and it goes well

8th May 2006 07:46 AM
Daethgod Live feed from the mine site
http://graphics.news.com.au/english/animation/060504_livebeaconsfieldfeed2/index.html

8th May 2006 07:51 AM
Daethgod getting close now


http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,19071292-5001021,00.html

Probe breaks through to miners

May 08, 2006

TWO trapped Tasmanian miners have seen a probe sent towards them by rescuers, Beaconsfield mine managers say.

Management of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine tonight said the probe had broken through rock into the area in which Brant Webb and Todd Russell are trapped.

Rescuers have blasted a tunnel about one metre directly underneath the men and sent up a probe to make sure they are in the right place.

Just minutes ago, mine management confirmed the probes had reached their target.

Australian Workers' Union national secretary Bill Shorten said the probes had confirmed there was less than 100cm of hard rock and fill - looser rock - between rescuers and the miners.



"The crust is not as thick as expected," Mr Shorten said.

"It's still complex but it's a good sign.

"For once we've had a break our way, it's some long overdue good news."

Mr Shorten said the probes had found the thickness of hard rock could be as little as 30cm, while the fill was about 60cm.

Earlier, mine management stressed that tunnelling upwards towards the men presented many new challenges and may still take some time.

Mr Russell and Mr Webb have been trapped almost one kilometre underground at Tasmania's Beaconsfield Gold Mine since a rockfall on April 25.

They were found alive on April 30 and rescuers have been slowly and painstakingly tunneling towards them ever since.

8th May 2006 07:32 PM
Daethgod for those that havent heard..
the Aussie miners are free after 14 days trapped 1km underground

the whole country is celebrating today

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/


8th May 2006 08:20 PM
Daethgod BEACONSFIELD, Australia - Two Australian miners who survived for two weeks in a kennel-size cage trapped 3,000 feet underground walked out of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine early Tuesday and punched the air, freed by rescue crews drilling round-the-clock by hand.

Hundreds of well-wishers gathered at the mine gates erupted in cheers when Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, emerged, their head torches glowing in the pre-dawn light.

The miners bear-hugged family and friends before clambering into two ambulances, still laughing and joking. Before going, they removed their identity tags from the wall outside the elevator — a standard safety measure carried out by all miners when they finish a shift.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

Long-silent church bell peals
Their rescue ends a drama that riveted the nation. Television networks cut live to the news that the men were saved. A fire engine drove with its siren wailing through Beaconsfield, a town in the southern state of Tasmania. A church bell not used since the end of World War II rang out in celebration.


Webb and Russell were buried after a small earthquake April 25 trapped the safety cage they were working in under tons of rock. Miner Larry Knight, 44, was killed, and Tuesday’s rescue came hours before Knight’s family planned to hold his funeral.

Teams of specialist miners bored through more than 45 feet of rock over the past week with a giant drilling machine to reach the men. But cutting the final sections of the escape tunnel was slow and difficult, as the men used hand tools to avoid causing a cave-in.

For 300 hours, the two miners had huddled in the 4-foot-tall cage, too short to stand up in, until rescuers broke through the last crust of rock, five times harder than concrete, to reach them.

Frustration near the end
That last drilling took longer than expected, frustrating residents of the close-knit community waiting for hours above ground at the mine gate. Rescuers could only work one at a time on their backs in the cramped tunnel, wielding hand-held pneumatic drills, diamond-tipped chain saws and jackhammers as heavy as 88 pounds.

But the rest of the crust was compacted debris, easier to cut through.


Starting at 4:47 a.m., the men crept one at a time out the cage and into the narrow escape tunnel. Rescuers carried them through the tunnel on stretchers. A medical check of the men, still underground, found them in good health — able to stand on the elevator carrying them to the surface and to walk out of the mine.

The two ambulances drove the men slowly out the mine gates, with the doors open so crowds could see the two men who have become national heroes. Hundreds of townsfolk lined the streets, whooping, clapping and cheering as the vehicles passed en route to a hospital in nearby Launceston.

“The great escape is over,” union official Bill Shorten told Nine Network television. “A giant rock of pressure has been taken off these families.”

Seventeen men were working the night shift when the magnitude 2.1 quake sent tremors through the century-old mine. Fourteen men made it safely to the surface. But Webb, Russell and Knight had been working deep in the belly of the mine repairing a tunnel.


Webb and Russell survived because a huge slab of rock landed on their safety cage, forming a roof that kept them from being crushed. For five days they lived on a single cereal bar and water they licked from rocks, until rescue crews with thermal heat sensors detected them April 30.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

The rescue team forced a narrow pipe through a hole drilled through the rock and pushed through supplies including water, vitamins and fresh clothing.

Comforts such as iPods, an inflatable mattress, egg and chicken sandwiches, and even ice pops followed.

Throughout the rescue, the good spirits of the miners, both married with three children, amazed those struggling to reach them.

One man asked for a newspaper so he could start scanning the classifieds for another job. Another said that once freed, he wanted the ambulance to stop at McDonald’s on the way to the hospital.

Little has been seen of the miners’ families since the initial news of their survival. TV networks and newspapers were rumored to have paid substantial sums for exclusive rights to interview the men and their relatives once they were rescued.

Knight’s family planned to hold his funeral Tuesday in the nearby town of Launceston. They had delayed the service, hoping the trapped miners would be able to attend.


According to the Minerals Council of Australia, fatalities are decreasing. Nineteen miners were killed in 1999-2000, and 10 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005. Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal, and the country is dotted with mines extracting everything from uranium to diamonds.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 152 deaths in mining and oil and natural gas extraction in 2004. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration reported 25 deaths in coal mine accidents that year.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12638826/page/2/
8th May 2006 09:08 PM
glencar Congrats! Mining is a tough job, mate!
9th May 2006 03:29 AM
corgi37 And they made it to their mates funeral. Good and bad news. A happy and sad day for them folk.

The union is paying for the funeral.

And the Tassie beer is on the house!

Imagine the celebration/wake tonight?
9th May 2006 07:16 AM
Daethgod and Eddie put $500 on the bar

Go Pies !

9th May 2006 07:53 AM
Gazza saw it on the news here last night. Glad they made it out.
9th May 2006 08:15 AM
MarshallG
quote:
Daethgod wrote:
and Eddie put $500 on the bar

Go Pies !




Now I know why you didn't answer my request to trade for your Oz tour dvd, you are a damn Pies supporter. Answers everything.

BTW, I have finished with my '73, '95, '03, and '06 Stones Oz tour scrapbooks.

I've found I have a few things extra:

- Brashes 'Hot Stuff' catalogue (mint)
- Brashes VL promo polastic store bag (mint)
- 4 page 'The Australian' liftout 23/03/95
- 'The Sunday Age' full page tickets ad 26/03/95
- 'The Herald Sun' complete 28/03/95
- As above, all relevant Stones pages

If anyone wishes to trade from them and maybe some cd/dvd 's as well, lemme know.

mgreythorne@optusnetdotcomdotau
http://www.phishhook.com/lists/m_greythorne
9th May 2006 10:49 AM
voodoopug
quote:
Gazza wrote:
saw it on the news here last night. Glad they made it out.



me too.....these stories are always difficult to read and I always feel horrible for their families..bless those who survived!
9th May 2006 12:08 PM
jb God bless and prayers to all.
9th May 2006 03:10 PM
glencar Seems it was very cold down there.
9th May 2006 03:21 PM
gimmekeef With spirit like that those guys just had to make it!...Sometimes there is good news in this world!!!...My hunch is these guys are Stones fans.....
10th May 2006 08:32 AM
MarshallG One of the guys is partying hard, the other has locked himself away to spend time with his family.

Being trapped in a cage 1 km down for two weeks, think about it.

I hope those guys keep a grip, I know in their shoes I would have lost it pretty quickly.

10th May 2006 09:30 AM
StickyFishFingers It was so cool to see those guys come out of that mineshaft elevator and put their time cards back on the rack next to the elevator. Great aussie spirit and sense of humour. Those guys have been thru hell and it's a miracle that they are physically ok.I hope mentally they are ok too.

It's interesting though to see how the media reacts to such events. The news programs and the newspapers have been in a frenzy over this particular tragedy/miracle since news broke that 2 men had survived the mine collapse - meanwhile a small story appeared towards the back of the Australian newspaper yesterday about 3 guys who have been missing at sea for 3 weeks. Their 5 meter dinghy broke down and was swept out into the Torres Strait after a severe storm. The search and rescue efforts for these guys was called off a month ago & it was presumed by all that they were dead. Their families were left on their own to grieve - there was no intense media coverage like that seen in Beaconsfield. Amazingly they survived and were thankfully found alive a few days ago. They survived on a small amount of water and squid. All 3 were suffering from malnutrition, severe sunburn and dehydration.

The point of this story is not to take any kudos and admiration away from the 2 miners in Beaconsfield - but to highlight the double standards & fickleness of the media. I mean no disrepect to the miners, their families and their rescuers.
10th May 2006 09:47 AM
corgi37 Man, every one was shouting that bar! Channel 7 put money on, Eddie did, the union - almost worth the 50min flight down there!

Revealed today they have been offered up to $3mill each! Plus, Oprah wants to talk to them.

Reason enough to get back down that shaft!

Wonder when they will be attending the Foo Fighters show?

I saw about those fihing dudes. I guess the story wasnt as highly presented due to the fact no one knew their fate. Where as with this, we did.

My feelings are really for that little girl run over by the old cunt in Sydney. Poor little thing. This is after she got run over about 3 years ago when some stupid old fucker ran his car down a embankment, into a kindergarten, and ploughed through a room of little kids. This little girl was pinned under the car. She suffered terrible burns and injuries, had to have amputations, just gets it all together, starts school, and another old fucker ploughs through a childrens crossing.

I have always despised the elderly, and i double do so now.
10th May 2006 09:56 AM
Gazza
quote:
gimmekeef wrote:
With spirit like that those guys just had to make it!...Sometimes there is good news in this world!!!...My hunch is these guys are Stones fans.....



quote:
MarshallG wrote:
One of the guys is partying hard, the other has locked himself away to spend time with his family.


theres your proof, gimmekeef. One thinks he's Keith Richards and the other one is convinced he's Charlie Watts...!
10th May 2006 10:23 AM
StickyFishFingers Yep i agree there Corgi about that little girl absolutely heart breaking stuff - it puts things into perspective with the Keith situation for me personally. I want him to get better naturally & I'm worried about the dude but he's bloddy tough - afterall he's made it this far in life and has done some crazy shit. Unlike that little girl. It's not fair what has happened to her. It's because of things like this sad story that I am an athiest. But that's another story and doesn't need to be expanded upon here.
I've been saying for many years now that public transport should be offered free to all senior citizens. Im not saying dont let them drive if they are physically and mentally able to do so, because that would be unjust - but encourage them to take a nice leisurely bus, train, ferry, train ride instead.
10th May 2006 11:11 AM
gimmekeef
quote:
Gazza wrote:

theres your proof, gimmekeef. One thinks he's Keith Richards and the other one is convinced he's Charlie Watts...!



LOL.Gazza!!.I knew it!.....But I saw them waving at the crowd and thought they both were trying to be Ronnie!
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