34 staff freed after Canadian potash mine ordeal

More than 30 employees at a Canadian potash mine have been rescued after being trapped underground for 24 hours, a company spokesman said. The workers were carrying out maintenance duties when a service shaft broke down on Tuesday afternoon at Saskatoon-based fertilizer firm Nutrien. "We can confirm that all 34 employees have been safely brought to the surface at our Cory Potash site," Nutrien spokesman Will Tigley said Wednesday evening. The miners had been stuck at the bottom of the mine approximately one kilometer (half a mile) underground, but had water and food supplies with them.