A number of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officials are in Somerset, Pa today to commemorate the tenth anniversary of a mining accident that ended with lives being saved.

On July 24, 2002, nine miners working underground inadvertently breached an adjoining abandoned mine, unleashing a torrent of water that trapped them for 77 hours. As the nation looked on, teams of government and company officials, engineers and drill rig operators worked for three days and nights to locate and ultimately rescue the miners one by one using a steel capsule that was lowered 240 feet beneath the earth's surface.

Members of the MSHA team who took part in that successful rescue - and are on hand for the anniversary ceremonies -- include Kevin Stricklin, administrator for coal; John Urosek, mine emergency operations chief; Jeff Kravitz, scientific development chief and Joseph Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.

A ribbon-cutting for a new visitors center at the rescue site takes place at today at 11 a.m.