50th anniversary of Pa. mine rescue to be marked

50th anniversary of Pa. mine rescue to be marked

SHEPPTON, Pa. (AP) — The dramatic rescue of a pair of trapped Pennsylvania coal miners who survived 14 days underground riveted the public’s attention in August 1963.

Fifty years later, the anniversary of the Sheppton Mine Disaster is being marked with a program near the mine site in northeastern Pennsylvania, at the grave of a third miner who perished in the collapse, according to the Standard-Speaker of Hazleton.

The miners were about 300 feet underground on Aug. 13, 1963, when the mine caved in, trapping them.

Miner Louis Bova became separated from the other two and was never found. But rescuers located David Fellin and Henry Throne after drilling a 6-inch borehole and lowering a light and camera.

Their rescue made international headlines.