Three of four miners trapped in a flooded colliery in Wales have been found dead, it has been confirmed.
According to reports, one of the men was minutes from safety when he was overwhelmed by a tide of water.
A tunnel in Gleision Colliery, near Cilybebyll, Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley, was flooded when a retaining wall holding back water underground failed. Of the seven miners in the tunnel at the time, three escaped, leaving four trapped.
It appears that one trapped miner is the father of one of the miners who managed to escape from the drift mine when it flooded.
The four men trapped 295ft below ground yesterday morning have been named as Charles Breslin, 62; David Powell, 50; Garry Jenkins, 39; and Phillip Hill, 45. None of the bodies have been recovered.
Superintendent Phil Davies said: "All our sympathy goes out to the families in what is an incredibly difficult situation."
He added: "I will reiterate the fact that this is still an ongoing search and rescue operation and all emergency services are fully committed to getting these miners out as soon as possible."
Chris Margetts, from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, told newspapers that the first dead miner was found at the bottom of the main shaft and the second was found where he had been working.
He added that the search and rescue mission was continuing "because there are still air pockets on the other side of that water and there is a blockage down there that we have yet to search".
"The [third] miner that we have found had obviously tried to make it up to the exit where the other two came out."
