Australian Nine Network reporter Richard Carleton has died after suffering a suspected heart attack at Tasmania’s Beaconsfield Gold Mine today, during a press conference regarding the trapped miners. Witnesses said Carleton went red in the face after asking a question at the press conference and walked a short distance before collapsing. A radio journalist began CPR while an ambulance was called and someone was sent to the mine site to get medical experts working with the trapped miners. Carleton was taken away in an ambulance and pronounced dead a short time later.
Minutes before he collapsed, Carleton asked Beaconsfield Mine Manager Matthew Gill about the safety history of the mine:
“On 26th October last year, not 10 metres from where these men are now entombed, you had a 400-tonne rock fall. Why is it, is it the strength of the seam, or the wealth of the seam, that you continue to send men into work in such a dangerous environment?”
Carleton, who reports for the network’s flagship 60 Minutes program, has a history of heart problems.
Meanwhile, rescuers still have at least 1.1 metres of solid rock to get through before they begin to tunnel vertically to reach two trapped Tasmanian miners. They are now drilling small holes into the rock face, inserting low-impact explosives and detonating them. The narrowness of the rescue tunnel means only one rescuer can drill into the rock at any given time. But he is helped by another rescuer kneeling behind him to help him hold the drill, which weighs up to 40kg. It is hoped Todd Russell and Brant Webb will be freed tomorrow. The men are still insisting that they will walk out of the mine and are doing exercises within their confined space to help them achieve this goal.
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Categories: Australia
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May 7th, 2006 at 9:59:00 am
Sad. But I can think of worse ways to go.
May 8th, 2006 at 2:03:37 pm
Actually, for once, this is “happy”, since it seems like these two will be able to walk out under their own efforts, once the path is cleared …
Not to type bad about the deceased, but … does he seem to have a Certain Agenda to Pursue, or What ?
May 8th, 2006 at 7:58:21 pm
At the time of the press conference, Richard Carleton was putting together a story on the past safety record of the Beaconsfield Mine which was going to air that night. 60 Minutes did in fact show Carleton’s story on Sunday night as everyone felt that he would have wanted it to still go to air. He is a very respected journalist, with over 30 years experience and is well known for asking the “hard-hitting” questions.
The story was basically that there have been a number of rockfalls and other safety issues to do with the area that the two miners were trapped and it is being questioned why they continue to send men into an area that they know is dangerous. The seam they are working on in that area is particularly rich.