A search is under way for two men who have been missing for more than 24 hours after a Queensland mine collapse. The men were driving 125m (410ft) underground inside the Dugald River mine near Cloncurry when the ground gave way on Wednesday, local media say. They fell 25m into a void, but a third person they were working with escaped and raised the alarm. Their vehicle has been located using a drone, but rescuers have found no sign of the missing men. The pair have not responded to efforts to contact them by radio. The men - named in local media reports as Dylan Langridge and Trevor Davis - are believed to be "fly-in, fly-out workers", a common practice in parts of Australia where staff are flown temporarily to remote work sites.

All operations at the zinc mine have been halted as the search intensifies, mine owner MMG said Rescuers worked all night using heavy equipment to gain access to the vehicle, and on Thursday morning MMG general manager Tim Akroyd said a mission had begun to recover it from below. "We expect that this process will take some time," he said, adding, "our thoughts remain very strongly with the families of our missing colleagues." Rescue teams were focused on resolving the "evolving" situation "as quickly and safely as possible", said Mark Norwell, CEO of Perenti - the firm the contractors worked under.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP