Rescue drama at Australia gold mine

Rescuers winch 27 miners to safety after tunnel collapses at Victoria mine.

australia ballarat gold mine rescue november 19 2007
The 27 miners were winched to safety through a ventilation shaft

The mine is currently being redeveloped by new owners who are aiming to restart production in the second half of 2008.

 

The mine operators and the state government have both launched investigations into the accident.

 

Ballarat was one of the centres of the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s.

 

In 2006 a collapse at a gold mine in the Australian state of Tasmania left two miners trapped a kilometre underground for more than two weeks before rescuers managed to dig their way through to them.

Source: News Agencies