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CNN Saturday Morning News
Rescue of Trapped Miners in Russia
Aired October 25, 2003 - 08:05 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we told you about this at the top of the show. We are now going to go to southern Russia and the dramatic rescue of some coal miners who have been trapped underground since Thursday.
Our Ryan Chilcote joins us now from Novoshakhtinsk with the very latest -- Ryan, nice to see you there via video phone.
The last time we talked to you, there were 11 miners that had been brought to the surface.
What can you tell us now?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Now that number is at 15. That means that a total of 31 miners remain some seven football fields beneath me, still trapped in that mine where they've been for about 46 hours now. There are two groups of miners down there. Initially, it started as a group of 33 in one pocket of the mine. Fifteen of those 33 have been brought to the surface. They're being brought to the surface with an elevator inside one of the mine shafts that can hold between three and four miners at a time.
It takes that elevator about a half hour to get down and a half hour to get back, so they're being rescued at a rate of about three or four miners an hour. It's only a matter of time, we are told, before all 18 of the remaining members of that group will be rescued.
The same is not the case, unfortunately, for another group of 13 miners which rescue officials here hope were also able to get themselves to safety, but in a different pocket of the mine. They do not know the status of those miners because they haven't been able to communicate with them in any form, direct or indirect. That's a bit different than what Russian officials were telling us earlier.
What they're doing is they're digging a tunnel from a nearby mine, trying to basically break through, break a hole into that pocket where they believe these other miners might be. But it's slow going. They're able to dig about a swimming pool's length a day and I'm told they have about another, you know, about another 40 yards to go. So that work could easily take them into the middle of tomorrow -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Ryan Chilcote, thanks very much for that information.
This is a changing situation. Apparently Russian authorities have not talked with 13 miners of the 46 who became trapped. Again, Ryan, thanks very much for that information.
For more on the miners' story and frequent updates on the rescue, you can simply log on and find it all at cnn.com or on AOL keyword: CNN.
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 25, 2003 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we told you about this at the top of the show. We are now going to go to southern Russia and the dramatic rescue of some coal miners who have been trapped underground since Thursday.
Our Ryan Chilcote joins us now from Novoshakhtinsk with the very latest -- Ryan, nice to see you there via video phone.
The last time we talked to you, there were 11 miners that had been brought to the surface.
What can you tell us now?
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Now that number is at 15. That means that a total of 31 miners remain some seven football fields beneath me, still trapped in that mine where they've been for about 46 hours now. There are two groups of miners down there. Initially, it started as a group of 33 in one pocket of the mine. Fifteen of those 33 have been brought to the surface. They're being brought to the surface with an elevator inside one of the mine shafts that can hold between three and four miners at a time.
It takes that elevator about a half hour to get down and a half hour to get back, so they're being rescued at a rate of about three or four miners an hour. It's only a matter of time, we are told, before all 18 of the remaining members of that group will be rescued.
The same is not the case, unfortunately, for another group of 13 miners which rescue officials here hope were also able to get themselves to safety, but in a different pocket of the mine. They do not know the status of those miners because they haven't been able to communicate with them in any form, direct or indirect. That's a bit different than what Russian officials were telling us earlier.
What they're doing is they're digging a tunnel from a nearby mine, trying to basically break through, break a hole into that pocket where they believe these other miners might be. But it's slow going. They're able to dig about a swimming pool's length a day and I'm told they have about another, you know, about another 40 yards to go. So that work could easily take them into the middle of tomorrow -- Sean.
CALLEBS: Ryan Chilcote, thanks very much for that information.
This is a changing situation. Apparently Russian authorities have not talked with 13 miners of the 46 who became trapped. Again, Ryan, thanks very much for that information.
For more on the miners' story and frequent updates on the rescue, you can simply log on and find it all at cnn.com or on AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
