Australia celebrates as trapped miners are freed

AUSTRALIA: Two Australian miners trapped in a small cage deep underground for 14 days walked out of the mine on Tuesday, triumphantly thrusting their arms into the air after rescuers freed them shortly before dawn.

Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, wearing yellow jackets and mining helmets with their lamps shinning brightly, walked confidently to a large board and removed their name cards - declaring they had ended their shift underground.

"This is the great escape. This is the biggest escape from the biggest prison we have, the planet," said Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten.

The miners were trapped a kilometer underground in a wire cage, about the size of a double bed, on April 25 after a cave-in caused by an earthquake at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine on the southern island of Tasmania.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard praised the rescue operation as a triumph of "Australian mateship" as miners from Beaconsfield and mine rescue experts from around the country worked against the odds to save the lives of two colleagues. News of the rescue was heralded by the mine's siren and then the bell at the small town's Uniting Church pealed in celebration just after 5 a.m.

Sydney, Tuesday,Reuters.