It's quite literally the stuff of nightmares — you are trapped underground, in the dark, in the cold, and water is rising all around you.

For the nine men who found themselves trapped in the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, that nightmare would last for more than three days, but would end, miraculously, with all of them rescued.

All nine men, Randall Fogle, Harry “Blaine” Mayhugh Jr., Thomas “Tucker” Foy, John Unger, John Phillippi, Ron Hileman, Dennis J. Hall, Robert Pugh Jr. and Mark Popernack, made full recoveries after their 77-hour ordeal.

Even as safety regulations and improved equipment have saved lives, coal mining reputation for danger is well-earned.

Since 1970 there have been 21 coal mining disasters — incidents where five or more people died. And in 2023, 40 coal miners were killed, according to the Mine Health and Safety Administration.

In the case of the Quecreek Mine, the ultimate cause was the long history of coal mining in the region.

On July 24, 2002, a team of 18 miners were working in the Quecreek No. 1 Mine when they breached the wall of an abandoned, flooded coal mine.

They knew there was another mine nearby, but based on the maps they had, the miners thought it was much further away.

“Based on maps available while planning the Quecreek No. 1 Mine, miners believed they were hundreds of feet away from the flooded mine,” Stan Michalek wrote in a U.S. Department of Labor post marking the 20th anniversary of the rescue in 2022. “However, mine planners did not have the most up-to-date map of the adjacent mine, which indicated that additional mining may have taken place.”

The miners were in two groups of nine. When the breach happened, one group was able to warn the other, and that group of nine escaped and called for help. It was just before 10 p.m.

The first group were trapped by the rising water, though. The tunnels they tried to use to escape were flooded, also, leaving the nine men to find the highest ground they could.

In the meantime, rescuers scrambled to try and save the miners.

For those on the surface, the first two priorities were to get air to the trapped miners and to slow the flooding.

Shortly after 2 a.m. July 25, about five hours after the breach, work started on an air shaft to the men. By about 5 a.m. the pipe made it down to the miners.

Rescuers banged on the pipe and, at 5:12 a.m., got three loud bangs in return. The men were alive, and the rescuers knew where they were.

But the water was still rising.

Between about midnight July 25 and 9:15 that morning, the water rose nearly 2,000 feet, according to the final report on the rescue from the Mine Health and Safety Administration. The rescue team tried a new tactic — creating a pressurized pocket of air to help keep the men safe.

On the surface, pumps started arriving, as rescuers and the trapped men realized time was running very short.

By noon July 25, the nine men were sure the end was near. Water was rising less than 100 feet away.

They said final prayers, wrote farewell notes to their families and tied themselves to each other, planning to die as a group.

But against all expectations, the water stopped rising.

Fogle, who was the crew chief, was credited with encouraging the others, always confident they'd be rescued.

They would be, but on July 25, about a day after they'd been trapped, their ordeal was far from over.

Above ground, rescuers worked to find a drill that could bore a hole large enough to fit a rescue capsule that could be used get the men out.

Yost Drilling and Excavation Company started work with a 30-inch diameter drill bit around 6:45 p.m. July 25, less than 24 hours after the breakthrough that left the nine men trapped.

Over the next several hours, the drill made its way down to about 105 feet when, shortly after 1 a.m. July 26, another disaster struck — the bit broke. Workers had to rush to West Virginia to get a tool used to extract broken drill bit.

“The drill crew retrieved part of the bit, but a special 'grabbing' tool was needed from Clarksburg, West Virginia, to retrieve the remainder,” the Mine Health and Safety Administration report reads. “The tool arrived by helicopter at approximately 7 a.m. Initial attempts to grab the bit failed. It was finally removed from the hole at 4:09 p.m. A new 30-inch bit arrived at 7 p.m., but due to its slightly larger size, the hole had to be enlarged from the top down. This operation started at approximately 8:40 p.m.”

It had been almost exactly 47 hours since the breakthrough.

The nine men had heard the drilling stop but there was no way to communicate what was happening. While the water was no longer an immediate danger, it had taken its toll, and the conditions in the mine were dangerous.

“The miners’ exposure to cold water, coupled with the typical mine temperature of 55 (degrees Fahrenheit), would have resulted in a loss of body heat,” the mine safety administration report explained. “Statements made by the miners indicate that hypothermia was occurring. To warm themselves, the miners reportedly gathered in the No. 4 entry at the roof bolting machine, which was still warm from being used before the inundation.”

Work drilling the hole kept running into problems. Around 2:30 a.m. July 27, the second 30-inch drill bit was damaged.

There wasn't another spare, leading rescuers to switch to a 26-inch diameter drill bit, which was still able to fit the 21.5-inch diameter rescue capsule. Work started up again around 7 a.m.

As the hole deepened and drew nearer to the trapped men, rescuers worried their location was pressurized, meaning a breakthrough from the surface could cause a flood. A seal plate was installed to keep that from happening and drilling slowed down until the water in the mine had dropped low enough.

Finally, at 10:13 p.m. July 27, the drill bit broke through into the mine.

“Immediately after the rescue hole drilled into the mine, all equipment was shutdown in order to take an accurate relative air pressure reading between the mine and surface atmospheres,” the mine safety administration report states. “A pressure gauge was attached at the discharge pipe for the cuttings to allow for this reading. The reading was zero, indicating the mine atmosphere was not pressurized and airlock procedures would not be needed for the miners’ rescue. Soon after, tapping on the 6.5-inch drill steel was heard from underground. The zero air pressure differential allowed the drill steel to be removed from the 6.5-inch hole. A two-way communication system was established down the hole.

“At 11:10 p.m., Saturday, July 27, it was confirmed that all nine miners were alive. Due to the reported condition of the miners, it was decided that mine rescue team members, who had been preparing to enter the mine, would not be needed.”

A capsule was sent down with blankets, cap lamps, food, water and chewing tobacco and, at 12:55 a.m. July 28, about 77 hours after the breakthrough, Fogle, the crew chief, was on the surface. He had been chosen to go first because he was having chest pains.

By 2:45 a.m., all nine were out of the mine and getting medical treatment.

The mine safety administration determined the main cause of the breakthrough was the use of an out-of-date, uncertified map of the adjacent mine when planning the Quecreek No. 1 Mine. Investigators found a copy of a final map dated 1964 showing the true extent of the abandoned mine.

Some of companies that helped plan the mine were cited by the mine safety administration for using uncertified maps.

Congress took action as well, allocating $10 million to digitize mine maps and develop technologies to find mine voids.

“Approximately $3.9 million was allocated through state grants to establish programs for digitizing underground maps for abandoned mines and making them available digitally to the public,” according to a Department of Labor article about the 20th anniversary of the rescue. “The states used this money to develop and enhance systems for collecting, digitizing, geo-referencing, archiving, ground-truthing, validating, and delivering mine maps, according to defined needs of each individual state.”

The nine men were trapped, then rescued, then shoved briefly into the national spotlight.

They all knew how lucky they had been.

One of the nine men, John Unger, told TribLIVE as much when interviewed for an article on the 20th anniversary of the rescue.

“God gave us all a second chance,” Unger said. “In the mining industry, that doesn’t always happen.”