US rescuers free 17 miners trapped overnight in New York

Seventeen miners were freed early Thursday after spending the night trapped in a salt mine in upstate New York due to a faulty elevator, officials said.

The workers were stuck from about 10:00 pm Wednesday (0300 Thursday) down an access shaft at the Cargill Salt Mines in Lansing, New York.

"At 8:30 am, (1330 GMT) the last of 17 miners were rescued from a shaft 800 feet (245 meters) down at the Cargill salt mine," the fire department in the nearby city of Ithaca wrote on its Facebook page.

"This brought to an end a rescue that lasted 10 hours, in frigid temperatures that brought over 15 agencies together to bring the men up safely," it added.

"A positive outcome to one of the most difficult rescues in recent memory!"

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said all 17 were in good health and ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

"The health and safety of New York's workforce is paramount and every step will be taken to ensure this incident is not repeated in the future, and anyone potentially at fault is held accountable," he said.

Cargill spokesman Mark Klein told AFP that the elevator simply "stopped and became stuck" while the miners were on their way to begin their shift.

The mine floor is 2,300 feet (700 meters) below ground and the elevator has safety brakes, he said.

Mining operations on site were temporarily suspended.

"First shift has already been called off and we will have to investigate and inspect the operation," Klein said.

The mine employs about 200 workers.