Trapped Australian miners 'likely to be freed without injury'

Two men entombed in an Australian gold mine for a week will probably be freed without major medical problems, a rescue official said today, as a special drill was assembled to bore through tonnes of collapsed rock.

Rescuers decided to end the drilling and blasting method late yesterday because of the risk of triggering another fatal cave-in at the century-old Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania state, where miners Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, have been trapped in cramped conditions almost 3,000 feet underground since April 25.