All 39 trapped Canadian miners rescued after three days

The incident happened at the Totten mine in Sudbudy, Ontario

All 39 miners trapped deep underground in central Canada have been brought to the surface, three days after an accident damaged the mine's lift.

The workers at the Totten mine in Sudbury, Ontario climbed up to 4,000ft (1.2km) using a series of ladders, with the support of a rescue team.

The rescued miners were all in good health, according to Vale, the company responsible for the mine.

The final miners emerged just before 05:00 local time (10:00 BST).

Vale Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Bartolomeo thanked the rescue team for their efforts and said bringing the miners safely to the surface had been a "top priority".

They "deserve our deep respect for their perseverance and strong will", he said in a statement early on Wednesday morning.

After they reported for the day-shift on Sunday, the miners became trapped after a heavy scoop bucket crashed into the lift system and blocked the shaft, Vale said.

After the incident, the miners proceeded to refuge stations, where they had access to food and water, and remained in contact with their families and staff outside the mine.

The workers are using a secondary ladder system to leave the mine, with rest stops along the way. They had to climb between 1,800 feet and 4,000 feet to the surface, depending on where they were underground.

Some 58 responders from both Vale's Mine Rescue team and Ontario Mine Rescue, a training and safety programme, helped with the extraction efforts. The rescue operation took two and a half days.

The rescue in the northern Ontario mine was a "complex situation", said local United Steel Workers union president Nick Larochelle in a statement.

Many of the rescue team members made four trips per shift, carrying heavy packs of supplies for the trapped miners. Rescue team members and miners alike were checked by medical staff as they emerged, and will be screened again over the next few days. Sudbury, which has a long history of mining in Canada, and has "some of the best rescue crews in the entire world - workers who voluntarily train on an ongoing basis, in case an emergency like this ever happens", Mr Larochelle said."Mining is much safer than it once was. This work builds entire northern communities, but miners take a great deal of risk every time they go underground. We must never forget that."

Vale, a Brazilian firm, said the company would investigate what happened in order to prevent similar future incidents.

Totten mine employs about 200 people to produce copper, nickel and precious metals.

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