Seventeen miners were trapped in an underground elevator at a New York Salt Mine Thursday morning, prompting a multi-hour rescue operation to free them from the rocky depths.
The incident began at around 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday as the miners were starting their shifts at the Cayuga Salt Mine in Lansing. However, as the elevator was going down the shaft, it suddenly became stuck, trapping them inside, ABC 7 News reported.
Emergency workers were able to contact the miners via radio so they could keep in touch with one another and provide updates on their current status. The miners had food, blankets and other supplies lowered to them throughout the duration of the operation.
"Everyone's fine, and things are going well," said Marcia Winch, spokeswoman for the Tompkins County emergency response department, according to CNN.
Using a crane, the first four miners were raised in a basket around 7 a.m. Four more were rescued half an hour later. This process continued until all 17 of the miners were safely rescued and returned to the surface.
A spokesman for the company who owns the mine, Minnesota-based Cargill, said that the company conducts evacuation drills annually, which is integral in the rescue process.
"While we hope to never make use of that practice, it's helping us today," the spokesman, Mark Klein, said, according to ABC's Minneapolis affiliate KSTP-TV.
Now that the rescue operation is completed, mining operations will be suspended for a week and both company officials and federal government mine safety inspectors will come on-site to determine what caused the elevator to malfunction.
"We want to take a step back, check things out," Klein said.
