Posted on 12/15/2011 7:28:54 AM PST by illiac
UPDATE: A spokesperson for the Kootenai County Medical Center confirms with KHQ that there is one patient at their hospital. They cannot release a name but can tell us that he is a male patient and is in fair condition. This patient was transported to the facility in Coeur d'Alene via Med Star (life flight helicopter).
Dr. Panos at Shoshone Medical Center confirms that 6 patients were transported to their facility via ground ambulance. Four of the miners have been released and 2 are still in the hospital for observation overnight. The Lucky Friday is closed as an authorities investigate.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
KHQ.COM - All 20 miners have been rescued at the Lucky Friday mine in Mullan, Idaho after getting trapped in a 'rock burst' nearly a mile underground on Wednesday night. The identities of the miners have not been released.
Seven miners were injured. The most serious injury was a broken leg. Right now we're awaiting further details on the accident from Hecla Mining Company officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at khq.com ...
Heard this morning on the radio that they were over a mile deep, now read on the site that they expect to go past 9,000 feet. Scary if you ask me.
These men do a job I’d never be able to consider. It is wonderful to hear they are all alive today.
Lucky Friday is un Lucky, lately.
Thanks for the good news!
Lucky miners rescued for Lucky Mines.
Lucky miners rescued from Lucky Mines.
Is this a silver mine?
I’m from coal country, so I’m not really familiar with 9,000 ft deep mines.
FYI, a “rock burst” happens when a thick stratum of rock is bowed under geologic tension. Even with a lot of extra structural reinforcement, with very little warning, a floor, wall or ceiling could seem to explode into mineshaft.
One of the big advantages of using wooden timbers is that often, wood gives a warning to such collapses by creaking and groaning. Unfortunately, metal reinforcing and rock doesn’t do this.
Bottom line: Mining is inherently dangerous. (And entering an abandoned mine has so many dangers that even experts will seldom attempt it. “More ways of killing you than you can shake a stick at.”)
Excellent
Wasn’t “Hecla” supposedly the gateway to Heck? One Hecla of a name for a mining company.
Silver, lead and zinc. However, coal and hard rock mines are very different in character and rules. Both dangerous.
From a google search ... "Hecla Mining Co said seven people were injured after a rock burst at its Lucky Friday silver mine in Idaho "
Didn’t the Lucky Friday have an incident a couple of months or so ago? Decades ago, my father worked in the Lucky Friday Mine for awhile. Hard and dangerous way to make a living.
That’s what I was thinking, too. Yeah, here’s a report from last April of another accident also a mile down. Sounds to me like they need to shut it down. I’d be looking for another job.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/apr/16/rescue-under-way-lucky-friday-mine/
I know this is off topic but why is it ok to name a medical building after Shoshones but not ok to name a sports team after an Indian tribe? Why aren’t the PC crowd all over this?
One is under the reign of the liberal university mindset and the other is in the real world.
Excellent answer and most probably 100% correct.
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