Nation celebrates rescue

News of the rescue was heralded by the mine's siren and the bell at the small town's Uniting Church pealed in celebration. Beaconsfield's Club Hotel poured free beer to rescuers.

Many Australians woke before dawn to watch the final stages of the rescue live on television, some hanging Australian flags from their homes to celebrate the news that the men were free.

Webb and Russell were found alive five days after the cave-in, but digging the 16-metre (48-feet) long horizontal rescue tunnel towards them was painstakingly slow as miners had to grind through rock five times harder than concrete.

Food and fresh water was delivered to the men through a small plastic pipe along with clothes, a digital camera and iPod music players. The miners used the camera to guide rescuers and the iPods gave them a sense of their own space in the confined cage.

Over the past few days, Webb and Russell spread grout beneath their wire cage to stabilise the ground and minimise the chance of a rock fall when they were finally reached. Miners had feared the vertical digging may cause a cave-in on top of rescuers.

Rescuers used hand boring equipment and precise low-grade explosives, sometimes as close as 30 centimetres, to make the final break through to the men, who were then dragged on stretchers from their tomb to a main mine shaft.

"The boys were ready to come home. They had their bags packed for some time," said rescuer Rex Johnson who reached the men.

Media executives and agents have reportedly been jockeying for exclusives with the men once they are freed, with talk of A$250,000 ($NZ305,000) for an interview and A$2 million for a combined magazine, television, book and movie deal.

The Australian parliament will host a reception for the freed miners. But the future of the Beaconsfield mine, the mainstay of the small town, is under a cloud. The mine has been closed and miners paid a month's wages pending a safety inspection.

Mining is one of the world's most dangerous jobs. World-wide 10,000 miners die every year. In Australia, 11 miners have been killed in accidents in the past year.