The underground rescue mission to save two miners in north-west Queensland has ended in tragedy on Thursday.
The fatally injured bodies of Trevor Davis and Dylan Langridge were found in a utility vehicle about 125 metres underground more than 30 hours after it plunged into a hole at MMG Limited’s Dugald River zinc mine, near Cloncurry, on Wednesday morning.
A third miner who had been operating a drilling rig also fell about 15 metres with the machinery into the void, known as a stope.
The drill rig operator was rescued and received medical treatment for minor injuries, Perenti said in a statement.
The men were employees of Barminco, an underground mining services company.
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In a statement on Thursday, Barminco owner Perenti CEO Mark Norwell said the outcome was devastating.
“I want to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of Trevor and Dylan, both of whom should have come home safely from work yesterday,” he said.
The incident involved a drill rig and the vehicle falling about 15m into a void within a previously backfilled stope.
“Tragically, through the rescue effort it has been confirmed that the two other Barminco employees, Trevor Davis and Dylan Langridge were fatally injured,” it said.
“Both Dylan (33) and Trevor (36) were valued team members and well respected across both sites and the wider Barminco team.”
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Rescue teams gained access the site earlier on Thursday where they removed debris to get to the vehicle.
Resources Safety Queensland inspectors were involved with the operation alongside emergency responders.
Earlier, Member for Kennedy Bob Katter, who is from Cloncurry, called for one minute of prayer and reflection in federal Parliament on Thursday for “these Australian boys in the gravest of danger”.
Mr Albanese said Cloncurry was a town where “everyone knows everyone”.
“Our thoughts are with the family of these two men but also all the people of ‘Curry. I know what a close-knit community ‘Curry is”, he said before the tragic news.
“Rescue efforts have commenced and are continuing at this time. As you can appreciate our priority is ensuring the safety of conditions underground,” he said on Thursday.
“Our approach today is to continue to safely remove material from around the vehicle so we can safely extract it.”
-with AAP
