Rescuers locate 20 of 24 trapped in Nicaragua mine

[Judi Lynn]

Rescuers locate 20 of 24 trapped in Nicaragua mine

By LUIS MANUEL GALEANO and ESTEBAN FELIX, Associated Press | August 29, 2014 | Updated: August 29, 2014 7:49pm

BONANZA, Nicaragua (AP) — Rescuers in Nicaragua raced Friday to reach at least 24 freelance gold miners trapped by a landslide, including 20 who have been located and have communicated with emergency crews.

Teams with dogs helped locate the 20 miners, who are inside a kind of cave in the mine, but authorities have not yet been able to get them out, said Alexander Alvarado, mayor of the town of Bonanza, located about 260 miles (420 kilometers) northeast of Managua.

Alvarado said that the 20 have been able to communicate with rescue workers who have gotten near the area where the miners are trapped. He said they didn't know the whereabouts of the other four.

Alvarado said rescue workers have lined up several wooden ladders along a 200-foot long tunnel that cuts upward into the mountain and are close to reaching the area where the miners are trapped. The mine bores into the side of a mountain and was covered by a landslide on Thursday.

"In a few minutes it will be possible to bring them food and water," Alvarado said.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/At-least-25-trapped-in-mine-landslide-in-Nicaragua-5721023.php

[Louisiana1976]

1. I hope they're able to rescue the miners soon.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Nicaraguan official: 11 of 24 miners trapped in gold mine have been rescued

Nicaraguan official: 11 of 24 miners trapped in gold mine have been rescued
The Associated Press
Posted: 08/29/2014 10:48:14 PM MDT

BONANZA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan official: 11 of 24 miners trapped in gold mine have been rescued.

http://www.dailycamera.com/nation-world-news/ci_26437408/nicaraguan-official-11-24-miners-trapped-gold-mine

(Very short, no more at link.)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Trapped miners rescued

Trapped miners rescued
Last updated 11:07 31/08/2014

Rescue workers and trapped miners alike frantically dug away at opposite sides of rock and mud that blocked a Nicaragua gold mine, finally succeeding in freeing at least 20 men. Efforts to reach five miners still missing continued.

Antonio Diaz said the miners tried to cheer each other up inside the dark, cold shaft, attacking the slide with their picks and shovels by the light of helmet lamps. But after 24 hours, they began feeling hungry and some started losing hope.

"The sadness of feeling yourself trapped in a hole is immense but I never lost hope," said the 32-year-old miner from a hospital bed in the town of Bonanza, near the El Comal gold and silver mine. "I kept thinking I was too young to die and above all, I thought about my two daughters."

He said the miners finally cut a hole through the blockage and started shouting, but at first there was no answer.

"Hours later, someone heard us, and when he answered us we felt life returning to our bodies," Diaz said. "God had answered our pleas to keep living."

More:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/60956616/Trapped-miners-rescued

[Judi Lynn]

4. Rescued Nicaragua miners join hunt for missing comrades

Rescued Nicaragua miners join hunt for missing comrades
POSTED: 31 Aug 2014 06:47
UPDATED: 31 Aug 2014 07:53

BONANZA, Nicaragua: Twenty workers dramatically rescued from a collapsed Nicaraguan gold mine joined frantic efforts to find eight comrades still missing after the cave-in, officials said on Saturday (Aug 30).

The rescued men were hauled out of the unlicensed gold mine one-by-one late Friday after being buried in a collapse at the unlicensed pit a day earlier.

After speaking with relatives of the trapped miners, officials reported at first that five were still trapped. They later determined that three more miners - who did not have relatives in the area to report their disappearance to officials - had failed to return from the mine after the mishap. After being treated in hospital overnight, several of the men were discharged Saturday and swiftly joined efforts to locate nine men still feared trapped.

"The boys spent the night under observation in the hospital, where they were treated for dehydration," said Gregorio Rocha, a spokesman for the mining company HEMCO which is involved in rescue efforts. "The hospital treatment gave them the energy and some are now working to find the missing," he told AFP. Rocha described the rescue of the 20 workers on Friday as a "great achievement," although he lamented that they have failed so far to rescue the others.

More:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/rescued-nicaragua-miners/1338246.html