Wyoming Miners Trapped After Substation Failed

Nearly 100 miners at three mining operations were stranded underground in Wyoming Wednesday afternoon when an electrical substation near here failed at 1:30 p.m., officials said.

The power failure affected the West Vaco, Granger and the FMC trona mining operations, leaving 97 miners stranded underground without electricity to power the lifts.

A portable generator was brought in to power the rescue operation. Crews from Rocky Mountain Power restored electricity at about 10:45 p.m., said Jim Fitzwater, public relations officer for FMC.

Fitzwater said there were no reports of injuries. It was unclear how many miners had been rescued by Wednesday night, or how far underground they were when the substation failed.