ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The last of 72 trapped Canadian miners emerged safely Monday from a Saskatchewan potash mine, one day after a fire trapped them underground.
The fire broke out at 3 a.m. Sunday, and the workers made it to sealed emergency rooms equipped with water, food, beds and blankets as well as oxygen supplies to last at least 36 hours.
Early Monday, the first group of 32 men was brought out by rescuers, as officials tried to determine if smoke and toxic fumes had subsided enough to bring out the others.
The mine sprawls more than 18 by 12 miles underground, and a spokesman for the U.S.-based Mosaic Co., which owns the mine said it took a long time for rescuers just to reach the men sealed in their emergency rooms.
The mine is in Esterhazy, about 150 miles northeast of Regina.
The fire broke out in polyethylene piping a-half mile underground, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., said.
Mine officials said it was too early to speculate about the cause of the fire.
