Five men working underground in a Georgetown, Colo., hydroelectric tunnel that caught fire have been confirmed dead by rescuers.

Around 8 p.m. Tuesday, almost six hours after flames trapped nine workers about 1,000 feet underground, rescuers said the five who hadn't escaped had been found dead, the Denver Post reported.

The group was coating a 48-inch water pipe with flammable epoxy paint when their equipment malfunctioned and the fumes ignited, said Ethnie Groves, spokeswoman for Xcel Energy.

Four men escaped and within 10 minutes the remaining five men were speaking to rescuers on two-way radios. Groves said staff opened a portal at the top of the tunnel to allow air into the tunnel and fire crews lowered oxygen masks and air hoses from the top of the pipe.

They were later found unused, the report said.

The names of the dead and injured weren't immediately released.

Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were expected at the site Wednesday.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International




Publication date: 03 October 2007   

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