This is scary. I hope they all survive.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/25/mine.accident/index.html
Rescuers race time to save trapped miners
'We know they're alive'
July 25, 2002 Posted: 11:07 AM EDT (1507 GMT)
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SOMERSET, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Rescue workers tapping on a pipe established contact with nine trapped miners early Thursday as they worked to free the crew from a water-filled mine collapse several hundred feet underground, officials said.
"We know we had communication with them; we know they're alive," Joseph Sbaffoni of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety said Thursday.
He said the miners tapped on a 6-inch drill lowered into the mine around 5:30 a.m.
"We answered them, and they tapped back," Sbaffoni said.
Officials said the miners are crammed in an area inside Quecreek Mine about 3 feet high by 12 feet wide about 300 feet beneath the surface. The mine is about six miles north of Somerset in southwest Pennsylvania.
Rescue workers plan to drill an even larger hole -- about 3 feet in circumference -- in the area where the miners are believed to be to create an air bubble and pathway to get the men out.
Once it begins, that process could take up to 18 hours, said David Hess of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Around 9 p.m. Wednesday, the miners accidentally hit an older mine filled with water, causing the area to collapse and flood, Pennsylvania state trooper David Holtzman said.
They were able to alert another crew of nine miners behind them, who safely evacuated.
The collapse happened about 8,000 feet from the mine's entrance.
"As you can imagine, this is delicate operation," Hess said. "We remain hopeful that we can rescue here, but we are just very, very concerned about the welfare of the trapped miners and the families involved in this situation."