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CNN Live At Daybreak
Miners Trapped Underground in Russia Mine Accident
Aired October 24, 2003 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Quecreek all over again. Forty-six coal miners are trapped a half-mile underground. Water is slowly filling the mine, while rescue workers try to save them. But this isn't Pennsylvania. It's southern Russia.
Ryan Chilcote live on the phone with us.
Ryan -- bring us up to date.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol.
That water that you just mentioned is flooding the mine at the rate of about two feet per hour. That's good news, because just last night the water inside the mine was rising at a rate of about three feet per minute.
Now, the miners themselves, the 46 miners, are believed to be about a half-mile beneath the surface. I say "believed to be," because Russian rescue officials do not have any kind of comms (ph) with them. So, they don't know -- I'd say they don't know exactly where the miners are, and they don't know -- nor do they know their status or how they're doing in relation to the rising water or, of course, the depleting supply of oxygen.
This accident began at about 7:00 p.m. local time last night. It was about 19 hours ago, when these -- well, there were 71 miners inside at work at the time when basically water that was accumulating in a nearby mine basically put enough pressure on the wall of this mine, and it caved in the wall and it started gushing in.
Twenty-five miners were lucky enough to get out of the mine as quickly as they could before the elevator that brings the miners -- normally brings the miners to the surface, before it cut out because the water got to its power supply. There is no way for the miners that are trapped a half-mile beneath the surface right now, there is no way for them to get out on their own -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Ryan Chilcote, I'm sure you'll bring us up to date. Ryan, live from southern Russia this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 24, 2003 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Quecreek all over again. Forty-six coal miners are trapped a half-mile underground. Water is slowly filling the mine, while rescue workers try to save them. But this isn't Pennsylvania. It's southern Russia.
Ryan Chilcote live on the phone with us.
Ryan -- bring us up to date.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol.
That water that you just mentioned is flooding the mine at the rate of about two feet per hour. That's good news, because just last night the water inside the mine was rising at a rate of about three feet per minute.
Now, the miners themselves, the 46 miners, are believed to be about a half-mile beneath the surface. I say "believed to be," because Russian rescue officials do not have any kind of comms (ph) with them. So, they don't know -- I'd say they don't know exactly where the miners are, and they don't know -- nor do they know their status or how they're doing in relation to the rising water or, of course, the depleting supply of oxygen.
This accident began at about 7:00 p.m. local time last night. It was about 19 hours ago, when these -- well, there were 71 miners inside at work at the time when basically water that was accumulating in a nearby mine basically put enough pressure on the wall of this mine, and it caved in the wall and it started gushing in.
Twenty-five miners were lucky enough to get out of the mine as quickly as they could before the elevator that brings the miners -- normally brings the miners to the surface, before it cut out because the water got to its power supply. There is no way for the miners that are trapped a half-mile beneath the surface right now, there is no way for them to get out on their own -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Ryan Chilcote, I'm sure you'll bring us up to date. Ryan, live from southern Russia this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
