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Australian miners safe and wellOne attends funeral of killed colleague
 Just hours after his rescue, Todd Russell attends the funeral of his workmate who died in the rock fall. QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSBEACONSFIELD, Australia (CNN) -- Rescuers have freed two Australian gold miners who had been trapped underground for two weeks after a cave-in that killed a co-worker, the mine's manager said Tuesday. Todd Russell, 35, and Brant Webb, 37, had been trapped in a steel cage since April 25, when a small earthquake triggered a rock fall in the Tasmanian gold mine where they worked. Rescuers had been working for more than a week to free them. "It's fantastic that these men are out," Bill Shorten, secretary of the Australian Workers Union, told reporters. The miners were freed about 5 a.m. Tuesday (1900 GMT Monday), and about an hour later emerged from the mine. The bearded men appeared in good condition, smiling and receiving hugs. Crowds of mine workers, rescuers and area residents applauded as ambulances carried Webb and Russell away from the mine entrance. They were taken to a hospital in nearby Launceston for further examination, but "these are not people who need to be stuck in an intensive care unit," Shorten said. Later in the day, Webb and Russell left hospital. Russell attended the funeral of a third miner, 44-year-old Larry Knight, who was killed in the rock fall. He was among hundreds of mourners at Launceston's St John's Anglican church. Webb also had hoped to attend, but was unable to do so. Earlier, Webb and Rusell, who had been trapped in a prone position, were examined in an underground chamber before being brought to the surface, mine manager Matthew Gill said. ( Watch how men surfaced -- 3:08 Webb and Russell had been getting oxygen, food, water and items such as magazines and iPods through a plastic pipe since they were found April 30. Ray Digney, a miner who assisted in the rescue operation and who is a friend of all three miners involved in the incident, said the two weeks of the operation were "a roller coaster of emotion." "It's a gut-wrenching feeling, especially when it involves not only someone you work with but someone you go fishing with," he said. Seeing Webb and Russell come out of the mine, he said, was "jubilation." "My best mate has come out of that tragedy alive," he said. "And not only that, he walked out. It's an amazing story." Australian Prime Minister John Howard told a media conference Tuesday the men were in "remarkable health." "We ought to give thanks to everybody responsible for this great achievement," Howard said. "It has been a triumph of Australian mateship, the way in which the whole community worked together. The rescuers, of course, deserve our particular praise and thanks because they were the men who risked their lives to bring their fellow Australians to the surface." Protected by the steel safety cage they were working in, Webb and Russell were reported to have suffered little more than scratches in the rock fall. Rescuers had to drill upwards through the rock to reach them. The miners were asked to help in the rescue effort by preparing the cavity in which they were stuck. They were asked to solidify any loose rocks they could reach and to prepare an area on the floor where the rescuers would eventually break through. Rescuers reached the men on Thursday through a 16-meter (52-foot) pilot tunnel, but it was not large enough for the miners to fit through. Concerns that large vibrations could dislodge more rock and cause another cave-in forced rescue specialists to use hand tools, including jackhammers and a chainsaw, to work towards the men. (Watch how rescuers are trying to make it to the miners -- 3:05 ) The rescuers also used low-impact explosives to split the rocks so they could chisel them away. Rescue organizers described the final section of rock being removed as being "five times harder than concrete." CNN's Hugh Williams contributed to this report. 
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