Rescue tunnel inches closer to Australian miners

Rescuers yesterday inched closer to two Australian miners, Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, trapped a kilometre underground for 11 days, but said moves to free the men had run into a new delay caused by vibrations from the giant drilling machine.

Rescuers had hoped to drill through 14 metres of hard rock by early yesterday to reach the two men with a one-metre wide hole, big enough for them to crawl through to freedom. But after completing more than two-thirds of the escape tunnel, the rescuers were forced to stop drilling because the huge underground boring machine was causing instability in the surrounding rocks, delaying the rescue bid.

"Our miners are going to go and get them out, there's no question in my mind now. They're determined to get them out," Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten told reporters yesterday.