Ohio miners trapped underground for several hours successfully rescued

HOPEDALE, Oh. — Two miners are back above ground Thursday after being trapped for several hours.

The men were rescued from the Hopedale Mine in Hopedale, Ohio Wednesday night. The town is about 55 miles west of Pittsburgh.

Both rescued miners were not hurt.

According to the manager of the mining company, the men were fixing a ceiling when part of it caved in. It took several hours for rescue crews to remove rocks and move material to support the roof, officials said.

The miners were rescued around 7 p.m.

One of the rescued miners said he was nervous as he waited to be pulled from the mine.

"We were bolting a cross-cut and we were on our last row of bolts and the intersection fell in. It caved in and we were trapped for about nine hours," said Gary Dulkoski. "I've got 20 some years of coal mining experience and I've never witnessed anything like that."

Officials with the Mine Safety and Health Administration believe gravity and geology caused the collapse. An investigation is ongoing.

WPXI