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Rescued man: Ordeal ‘terrible’

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Three adults safely rescued after several days in an inactive West Virginia coal mine were mobbed by loved ones in a teary reunion, then thanked the crews that got them out.

The three walked out of an ambulance at a fire hall in Whitesville to the screams of relatives for a brief reunion Wednesday night before being taken to a hospital.

Cody Beverly told news outlets the four-day experience inside Elk Run Coal’s Rock House Powellton mine near Clear Creek “was terrible.”

“I’m with my family now. I’m fine,” he said.

Beverly later told NBC News, “Anybody who was involved in searching for us, I just want to thank you with everything inside of me,” he said.

“We appreciate every one of you guys,” said Kayla Williams, who also was among those rescued.

Williams’ father, Randall Williams, said she had gone into the mine in search of copper. People in the region do “whatever they can do to make money if they ain’t got a job,” Randall Williams said.

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