2 Australians trapped 1km underground, in a Tasmanian gold mine received food and water. Rescuers managed to hand them biscuits and drinks through a narrow tube after drilling a hole through the fallen rocks.

Efforts to rescue the 2 people, Todd Russell, 35, and Brant Webb, 36, are expected to take another 48 hours. Workers must make a tunnel through 40 feet of collapsed rocks without setting off a cave-in like the one that trapped them April 25 and killed another miner.

While giving them food, rescuers also established contact through a cameraman's microphone. Russell's first words were short: "It's cold and cramped in here. Get us out!"

"The rescue has reached a very delicate stage," mine manager Matthew Gill asserted. "We have established permanent contact with the two men and they have received some food and fresh water and they do remain in good spirits."

So far, the 2 managed to survive drinking water running off the rocks inside the mine. "It's going to take a long time. You have to replenish them physically in order that they are able to cope with the next stage of the work," said Australian Workers' Union national secretary Bill Shorten.

Prime Minister John Howard expressed his sympathy for the people entrapped and their families. "All Australians will share the joy of the families of the two miners found alive at Beaconsfield, and that of the local community," he said. "We must all hope that the two men are safely brought to the surface, and reunited with their loved ones."