Rescue crews inch toward two Australian miners

BEACONSFIELD, Australia — Two Australian gold miners trapped in a tiny steel cage nearly 3,000 feet underground chatted, joked and even placed a fast-food order today as rescuers bored within several feet of them.

Comforted by the sound of the giant drilling machine 16 feet away, Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34, spoke to emergency crews through a narrow pipe.

"Todd wants steak, egg and chips and he wants to go to Maccas" after he's brought to the surface, paramedic Peter James said, referring to the McDonald's restaurant.

The narrow, 52-foot tunnel was likely to reach its final stages at noon today and officials hoped the miners had spent their final night underground. The teams planned to use hand tools to chip away the final feet of rock when they are directly below the men.

Drilling teams have been working around the clock, cutting through solid rock at a rate of 18 inches an hour.

The men were trapped by an April 25 earthquake. A colleague, Larry Knight, 44, was killed.