Rescuers have started to dig a small rescue tunnel in an attempt to free two Australian miners who have been trapped a kilometre underground for eight days.
Using a specialised tunnelling machine, which grinds through rock and is much safer than blasting or drilling, to dig the final 12 metres (40 feet) to reach the miners, rescuers say it will take 48 hours to reach the men.
The men, trapped after a cave-in in a gold mine in the small mining town of Beaconsfield on the southern island state of Tasmania, were found on Sunday huddled in a small metal cage.
Food and fresh water has been delivered to the men through a small 4-inch plastic pipe, along with fresh clothes, a digital camera, magazines and an iPod player.
"They are able to point the camera around the various parts of their fairly cramped environment," Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten told reporters.
"That helps actually guide the rescuers to the best spot to rescue the blokes, so the blokes are helping to rescue themselves," said Shorten.
A third miner was killed when a small earthquake sent down tonnes of rock. Despite their grief, Larry Knight's family has delayed his funeral until Brant Webb and Todd Russell are rescued and can say farewell to their mining mate.
"We believe the right thing to do is to wait until they rescue the two boys still down there," one of Knight's relatives told local media today.
The bond between miners is forged deep underground, where death is a regular companion and injuries just part of life.
Mining is one of the world's most dangerous jobs. Worldwide some 10,000 miners die every year.
In Australia, 11 miners have been killed in accidents in the past year. The Minerals Council of Australia has recorded 229 deaths from 1990 to 2000.
When the miners' death bell rings, it is heard across the Australian mining community as many miners still come from mining families, where son follows father, grandfather and great-grandfather underground.