Trapped miners safe after drilling accident

[Judi Lynn]

Trapped miners safe after drilling accident
Sep 23, 2010, 13:47 GMT

Santiago - The miners trapped underground in northern Chile survived yet another scare Wednesday when a hammer broke off a rescue drill and fell down the tunnel to where the workers are trapped.

The chief rescue engineer Andre Sougarret said the miners were 'away from the area of possible debris fall' when the hammer broke.

The incident affected the Schramm T-130 drill, the so-called Plan B for the miners' rescue. It has drilled a small tunnel to the 33 miners 700 metres underground, and is now enlarging it to a diametre of around 70 cm to accommodate the miners' being lifted out of the accident site.

Sougarret explained that the trapped copper and gold miners were removing debris from the drilling, but only when the drills are not active, to prevent injury.

The Plan B drill went back to work despite the loss of the hammer and has already reached 85 metres underground.

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