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17 Upstate Salt Miners Rescued After Getting Trapped 900 Feet Underground
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 7, 2016
Modified Jan 7, 2016
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 7, 2016
Modified Jan 7, 2016
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17 workers at a salt mine in central New York were rescued this morning after getting trapped in an elevator more than 800 feet underground. The workers were underground from 10 p.m. Wednesday until about 8:40 a.m. today; thankfully no one was injured.
The incident occurred at the Cargill Salt Mines in Lansing, NY, which is the deepest salt mine in North America. The workers were about 70 stories underground in an elevator when a steel beam that helped operate it broke. Eventually the company dispatched a crane on scene and the miners were carried out in a basket, two or three at a time—the workers were all rescued before 9 a.m. You can watch some of the rescue below:
The workers, all men, range in age from 20 to 60. They were reportedly all in good spirits throughout the ordeal, even though being trapped in an elevator underground for 11 hours can't possibly be fun—emergency crew workers sent them heat packets, blankets, and water, and the mine manager, Shawn Wilczynski, says workers kept it together. "As is typical with them, (they were) joking, sharing stories, having a good time with each other," he told NBC News.
Officials are currently investigating the cause of the elevator breakdown.
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lansing
mines
salt mine
Rebecca Fishbein
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