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Canwest News Service
DESMARAISVILLE, Que. – Two of three miners missing in a flooded mine in northern Quebec were found dead Monday.
Three rescue teams were continuing to look for the remaining man, a spokesman from Quebec’s workplace health and safety board said Monday evening.
Pierre Turgeon said the first victim was found as the search for the men got underway Monday morning. Another was found around supper time. The identities of the two were yet to be released.
The miners went missing Friday in a gold mine in Desmaraisville, in the James Bay region.
Bruno Goulet, 36, Dominico Bollini, 44, and Marc Guay, 31, were trapped 550 metres underground about 600 kilometres north of Montreal.
Turgeon said the search could continue overnight if necessary.
The mine was closed in 1993, but was being prepared to return to production because of the recent increase in price of the precious metal.
The men were working to align the walls of the mine shaft Friday. They were in a cage on the sixth level and told the cage’s operator at the surface level they planned to descend to the 12th level, not knowing that the area was flooded.
Once the operator noticed the water, he signalled the employees, but they didn’t respond. The cage was empty and the door open when it was brought to the surface.
Mine operations have ceased and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of this flooding. Water was still being pumped out of the mine Monday.
With files from the Montreal Gazette
