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CNN Live At Daybreak
In Russia, Rescue Workers Trying to Free Dozens of Miners
Aired October 24, 2003 - 05:33 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: Rescue workers are trying to free dozens of miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in southern Russia.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote join us live on the phone from southern Russia with the latest on this -- bring us up to date, Ryan.
What happened?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, rescue officials say that there are 46 miners now trapped nearly half a mile beneath the surface here at the Zapadnaya, which means in Russian the western mine in the southern Russian city of Novodshakhtinsk. That mine is being flooded at a rate of about two and a half feet an hour. That's a lot better of a situation than overnight, where the mine was being flooded at a rate of almost three feet a minute.
The problem is that there are absolutely no coms, no way of communicating with these miners down below. So rescue officials have no idea if these miners, indeed, are still alive and what their situation is in relation to the rising water and, of course, decreasing the amount of oxygen down there in the mine.
The accident happened yesterday at about 7:00 p.m. local time. That was about 18 hours ago. There were 71 miners inside the mine at the time. Twenty-five of them were able to make it to the surface quickly before the water got to the power supply for the elevator. That power is now out and no one -- none of the miners can use that elevator to get out of the mine.
So the situation is still tense here. The rescue officials, however, holding out hope until they get to those miners. They're still hoping that they're going to be able to bring them out alive -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, Ryan, this reminds me so much of the Quecreek mine accident in Pennsylvania. Do they have similar equipment to work with to get those miners out?
CHILCOTE: You know, it's too early to say. I can say that there is a great deal of trucks here that are carrying out the rubble, the earth that they're moving. What they're doing right now is they're drilling two tunnels into that mine from neighboring mines. And they're doing, they're moving it at quite a pace.
Whether they'll be successful, whether they have enough equipment, it's a bit too early to say -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right, Ryan Chilcote, I know you'll keep monitoring the situation and we'll check back with you throughout DAYBREAK 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 - 05:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Rescue workers are trying to free dozens of miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in southern Russia.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote join us live on the phone from southern Russia with the latest on this -- bring us up to date, Ryan.
What happened?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, rescue officials say that there are 46 miners now trapped nearly half a mile beneath the surface here at the Zapadnaya, which means in Russian the western mine in the southern Russian city of Novodshakhtinsk. That mine is being flooded at a rate of about two and a half feet an hour. That's a lot better of a situation than overnight, where the mine was being flooded at a rate of almost three feet a minute.
The problem is that there are absolutely no coms, no way of communicating with these miners down below. So rescue officials have no idea if these miners, indeed, are still alive and what their situation is in relation to the rising water and, of course, decreasing the amount of oxygen down there in the mine.
The accident happened yesterday at about 7:00 p.m. local time. That was about 18 hours ago. There were 71 miners inside the mine at the time. Twenty-five of them were able to make it to the surface quickly before the water got to the power supply for the elevator. That power is now out and no one -- none of the miners can use that elevator to get out of the mine.
So the situation is still tense here. The rescue officials, however, holding out hope until they get to those miners. They're still hoping that they're going to be able to bring them out alive -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, Ryan, this reminds me so much of the Quecreek mine accident in Pennsylvania. Do they have similar equipment to work with to get those miners out?
CHILCOTE: You know, it's too early to say. I can say that there is a great deal of trucks here that are carrying out the rubble, the earth that they're moving. What they're doing right now is they're drilling two tunnels into that mine from neighboring mines. And they're doing, they're moving it at quite a pace.
Whether they'll be successful, whether they have enough equipment, it's a bit too early to say -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right, Ryan Chilcote, I know you'll keep monitoring the situation and we'll check back with you throughout DAYBREAK 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
