Two miners reported missing following a strange accident have been declared dead after rescuers excavated a 125-meter-deep tunnel to reach the region where they vanished.
Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis vanished while placing explosives 100 meters below earth at the Dugald River Zinc Mine in north-west Queensland, 70 kilometers from Cloncurry.
Mark Norwell, managing director and chief executive officer of Perenti, stated, “This is a tragic outcome, and I want to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the families, friends, coworkers, and loved ones of Trevor and Dylan, who both should have returned home from work yesterday.”
Their vehicle fell into a pitch-black chasm when the ground opened up beneath them after a neighboring drilling equipment supposedly slid down a mining stope, causing a sinkhole.
The engineer of the drilling rig jumped to safety, but the miners were unable to escape in time and fell 25 meters into a huge hole.
Wednesday at approximately 8:00 a.m., their radios were silent following the collision.
Rescue crews excavated a tunnel into the area where the workers’ ute lay.
The owners of the mine, MMG, stated earlier today that data obtained from drone footage has enabled the rescue team to begin active access to the vehicle from below.
Tim Akroyd, general manager of the mine, stated, ‘The drone footage has allowed us to arrange a rescue that is safe for both the emergency response team and the light vehicle’s recovery.
“Our strategy is to continue removing debris from around the vehicle in order to safely extract it,”
Professor David Cliff of the University of Queensland told the Courier Mail that zinc mines are typically constructed around a vertical ore core, with a spiraling roadway that allows miners to use explosives to extract the mineral.
However, he claimed it was a mystery how the event occurred.
He stated, “There is no normal way for a cavity to form underneath unless there is an existing road or tunnel.”
The abrupt formation of the sinkhole, according to him, signaled that the land was unstable and susceptible to future sinking.
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