Alive: trapped US miners all rescued

Updated: 13:42, Sunday, 28 July 2002

Nine Pennsylvania coal miners are undergoing medical checks after being rescued from a flooded mine shaft where they had been trapped for three days.

Hopes had been fading for the men, who had spent over 75 hours in a four-foot high chamber filled with tepid water.

One man suffering from chest pains and another with an injured shoulder were taken by helicopter to a trauma centre 25 miles from the Que Creek mine. The others are said to be in relatively good condition and were taken to local hospitals.

There had been no signs of life from the miners trapped in Que Creek mine since they made tapping noises on Thursday.

Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker shouted "All nine, all nine," as the last man, 41-year-old Mark Popernack, emerged smiling and showing the thumbs-up sign.

The owner of the Black Wolf Coal Company that operates the mine said that it was a miracle.

Asked what this said about the character of coal miners, Weir responded: "This doesn't tell me nothing about a coal miner. They're the toughest person that walks the earth."

Although 58,000 Pennsylvania miners have been killed at work since 1870, there has been only one death in the last few years.

Black Wolf Coal Company has been cited 26 times for minor violations of federal mine safety regulations since 20 March, 2001.

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