Miners freed after 14 days

Two Australian miners trapped a kilometre underground for 14 days walked out the mine yesterday defiantly thrusting their arms into the air after rescuers reached them shortly before dawn.

Miners Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, wearing mining helmets with their lamps shining brightly and yellow jackets walked confidently to a large board and shifted their name cards from red to green - declaring they had ended their shift.

Their wives quickly rushed to hug them before scores of rescuers descended on them, hugging and shaking hands.

The miners were trapped in a small wire cage on April 25 after a cave-in at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine on the southern island of Tasmania.

News of the rescue was heralded by the mine's siren and then the bell at the town's Uniting Church pealed in celebration just after 5 a.m. (1900 GMT). It was the first time the bell had been rung since the end of World War II, 61 years ago.

Digging a 16-metre-long horizontal rescue tunnel towards Mr Webb and Mr Russell was painstakingly slow as miners had to grind through rock five times harder than concrete. Food and water were delivered to the men through a small plastic pipe along with clothes, a digital camera and two iPod players.