Dugald River Zinc Mine accident: Race to rescue miners Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis at Cloncurry
>
On a desperate mission to find two miners trapped 125 meters underground after their ute plunged into a cavern in a freak accident, as rescuers dig from below and make a tragic discovery.
- Two miners found dead
Two miners reported missing after a freak accident have been confirmed dead after rescuers dug a tunnel 125 meters underground to reach the area where they disappeared.
Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis went missing while planting explosives 100 meters underground at the Dugald River zinc mine, 70 kilometers from Cloncurry in northwest Queensland.
Perenti Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mark Norwell said: “This is a devastating result, and I want to extend my deepest condolences and condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of Trevor and Dylan, who should have returned to home safe and sound.” from work yesterday.
Their ute plunged into a pitch-black abyss as the ground opened up beneath them after a nearby drilling rig slid down a mine stope, apparently causing a sinkhole.
The drilling rig engineer managed to jump to safety, but the miners were unable to escape in time and fell 25m into a cavernous shaft.
Their radios were silent after the crash, which happened around 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Rescue teams found their bodies after digging 125 meters underground to reach the area where they disappeared.
Trevor Davis (left) and Dylan Langridge (right) were at the Dugald River zinc mine, some 70 km from Cloncurry, in north-west Queensland, when a drill rig and light vehicle suddenly fell into the mine shaft just before 9 am on Wednesday. bodies have been found there
Zinc mines like Dugald River (pictured) are usually built around a vertical core of ore, with a road spiraling around it to allow miners to use explosives to extract the ore, Professor David Cliff said.
The bodies of two miners were found after becoming trapped at the Dugald River zinc mine in rural north-west Queensland (a map of the mine’s location is pictured)
Rescue teams dug a tunnel to the area where the workers’ van lay.
Earlier today, the mine owners, MMG, said that “data captured from the drone imagery has enabled the rescue team to initiate active access to the vehicle, which will involve reaching the vehicle from below.”
Mine General Manager Tim Akroyd added: “The drone footage has enabled us to plan a rescue that is safe for both the emergency response team and minimizes the danger to the recovery of the light vehicle.
“Our focus is to continue to safely remove material around the vehicle so that we can safely remove it.
Professor David Cliff, from the University of Queensland, told the Courier Mail that zinc mines are usually built around a vertical core of ore, with a spiral road around it to allow miners to use explosives to extract the mineral.
But he said it was a mystery how exactly the accident had happened.
“There is no normal way for a cavity to form underneath, unless there is a pre-existing road or other tunnel,” he said.
He said the sudden appearance of the sinkhole suggested the area might be unstable and at risk of sinking further.