Tragic end as trapped coal miners found dead

Police have found the body of the last remaining Welsh miner stuck in the flooded coalmine in south Wales.The development means Phillip Hill, 45, Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, and Garry Jenkins, 39, have all perished in the tragedy near Swansea.Their families had been waiting at a nearby community centre in the hope of good news as the search and rescue operation continued.Police said all four bodies have now been removed from the scene but formal identification has yet to take place.“We’ve tried to bring this safely to its conclusion. Unfortunately the conclusion we have is the one none of us wanted,” a police spokesperson said. Shortly before the announcement was made, Prime Minister David Cameron described the situation as “desperately sad”. He said yesterday afternoon: “One can only imagine the anguish the families are going through and will go through and the sorrow of losing loved ones.Cameron added: “It is clear the emergency services have done everything they can and worked incredibly hard and have not lacked for anything.”Gleision Colliery, thought to be part of a private mine, is located under a very steep hillside above the banks of the River Tawe.The small pit flooded at around 9am on Thursday morning when a retaining wall holding back a body of water underground failed.Seven workers were in the drift mine at the time. It is thought their shift began about two hours earlier. Three others made it to safety. They have been named locally as Mark Lloyd, 45, Malcolm Fifield and Andrew Powell, 23, believed to be the son of David Powell.The first body was found almost 24 hours into the rescue mission at 8.30am yesterday, the second at around 12pm and the third shortly before 3pm.Divers trying to reach the men had were forced to abandon their attempt in the early hours of the day.Fresh rescue teams were brought in yesterday morning to relieve crews who had worked strenuously for at least 12 hours straight.An expert listening device, which can detect movement deep underground, was the among the specialist kit being used. The team managed to clear the blocked main shaft, allowing them to search the network of tunnels but by then it was too late.It had been hoped the miners would have found an air pocket, allowing them to keep breathing until rescuers arrived.