Third Body Found
Gleision Colliery Reuters

A third miner has been found dead after being trapped in a colliery in South Wales after two other miners were found dead Friday morning at the bottom of the mine shaft.

The emergency services have said that they will continue the search in the hope that the remaining man is still alive, with the Daily Mail reporting that the three bodies have not been formally identified. The families of the miners have been informed that three bodies have been found and support continues to flood in from the local community.

Labour MP for Neath, Peter Hain, said rescue workers were toiling away and had recently discovered there was no methane in the mine.

"The families have been told there is oxygen in the vicinity of the mine. We hope that those trapped have been able to find an air pocket and were able to scramble to safety," he said.

Emergency response teams have continued their efforts to reach contact with one remaining miner but have so far been unsuccessful. The crews have enlisted the help of specialist diving teams as well as the help of a specific listening device designed to detect underground movement, the BBC reports.

"We maintain hope until we know otherwise," said Chris Margetts, from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

"There's air down there. We know the flood water hasn't filled the entire chamber that they were in. Everyone's working very hard - we just need a bit of luck," he added. The second body was found where the victim had been working with the first victim, whose body was discovered at the bottom of the mineshaft. The tunnels in which the miners work in can be extremely cramped and at some places are less than one metre high, Sky News have said.

Teams are continuing to pump up water as well as shoring up the tunnels but emergency services have said they operation still remains 'difficult,' said the operation.