17 Sep 2011

Four miners confirmed dead

7:06 pm on 17 September 2011

Police in Wales confirm that all four miners trapped in a flooded coalmine since Thursday are dead.

Rescue workers at the Gleision colliery in Swansea Valley had been searching a maze of tunnels to try to save them.

Officials say everything humanly possible was done.

Three other miners managed to escape when floodwater engulfed the colliery at about 9.15am on Thursday.

The BBC reports that Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan has announced an inquiry which will initially be handled by South Wales police before it is handed over to the Health and Safety Executive.

Gleision Colliery was brought back into use in 1993. It is under a very steep hillside above the banks of the river Tawe.