Two men have died overnight after a wall collapsed in an underground coal mine in the Hunter Valley of NSW, trapping the two workers.
The tragic incident occurred at around 9pm last night at Yancoal’s Austar coal mine at Paxton, near Cessnock.
At this early stage it is not known what triggered the wall collapse.
According to the ABC, two men aged 35 and 49 were working 500 metres below the surface when the wall caved-in, trapping the two men and triggering an immediate rescue operation. There are unconfirmed reports that two other men were injured in the same incident.
The ABC reports that the men, who are believed to live in the nearby towns of Metford and Cessnock, were pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
Police Special Forensics have already begun investigating the incident and the area has been declared a crime scene. All operations at the mine have ceased while investigations are conducted.
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