Oz mine collapse survivor tells Chilean counterparts to ’sing’ to survive

SYDNEY - Todd Russell, an Australian miner who was trapped underground for a fortnight in the 2006 Beaconsfield mine collapse, has a few words of wisdom for the 33 Chilean miners trapped in the San Jose mine: sing a Kenny Rogers song.

Russell and fellow miner Brant Webb were caught in a safety cage almost a kilometre below the surface when an earthquake triggered a rockfall at a gold mine in Tasmania.

The 34-year-old said that the mental anguish, more than the physical, had been their biggest challenge.

“Mentally, it’s going to be very hard,” The Scotsman quoted Russell, as saying.

To overcome it, Russell said that they swapped jokes, told tall tales, reassured each other that they would live and were singing Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler -the only song they both knew.

The two men were feared dead until emergency crews using a thermal imaging camera located them five days later. (ANI)