16 September 2011 Last updated at 04:51 ET

Trapped miners: One of four at Gleision Colliery dead

One of the four miners trapped 90m (295ft) below ground in the Swansea Valley has been found dead, police say.

Rescuers had been trying to reach the men in the flooded Gleision Colliery near Cilybebyll, Pontardawe for nearly 24 hours.

The trapped miners are Charles Breslin, 62; David Powell, 50; and Garry Jenkins, 39, from the Swansea Valley; and Phillip Hill, 45, of Neath.

Police said the identity of the dead miner is not yet known.

He was found by rescue crews in a very deep part of the flooded mine earlier on Friday, but they have so far been unable to recover his body.

Families and friends who are at the nearby Rhos community centre have been informed of the news.

The rescue operation to find the other three miners is continuing.

Chris Margetts, from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said the dead miner was found on the "exit side of the body of water" and that it was "quite possible the team has been split".

Emergency services said they had not given up hope of finding the other three men alive and hope they have found their way in to an air pocket on the other side of the water.

The dead miner was found in an area of the mine near the exit where three other miners were able to escape on Thursday.

Two were largely unharmed and are helping the rescue operation.

The third is critically ill in an induced coma in Morriston Hospital, Swansea, after escaping as the flood water engulfed the drift mine when a retaining wall holding back a body of water underground failed on Thursday.

The alarm was raised at 09:21 BST on Thursday and members of the Mine Rescue Service, together with specialist divers, helpers from all over the country and the fire service, have been working through the night.

They were forced to abandon their attempt during the night after debris made the water too murky.

Fresh rescue teams were brought in on Friday morning to relieve crews who had worked strenuously for at least 12 hours straight.

An expert listening device, which can detect movement deep underground, is the among the specialist kit being used.

Excavation process

Mr Margetts said it was a very "delicate" operation as care had to be taken not to damage the structure of the mine. But he said the water levels are receding. Pumps are continuing to remove water from the mine and oxygen is being pumped in.

He said the rescue crews have now gained enough access to get teams down in wetsuits to start the excavation process.

They are continuing to pump out water, excavating the blockages and shoring up the tunnels.

"It is slow and it is steady, but as we're aware with previous incidents, these incidents take time," he said. "We need to do it properly.

"Everyone is working very hard, we just need a little bit of luck."

Neath MP Peter Hain is at a community centre, along with First Minister Carwyn Jones, where relatives of the trapped miners gathered overnight.

"I've spoken to the families who are going through a small kind of hell," he said.

"What's been made worse is that as has been reported, a miner has been found dead but we don't know who it is. It's almost worse than not knowing and our hearts go out to everybody - the families in the community centre and their relatives in the community.

"This is a very serious tragedy, the like of which we have not known in these valleys for a long time."

First Minister Carwyn Jones has arrived at the community centre at Rhos where family and friends are gathered.

Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan said: "I am extremely saddened to hear that one of the miners has been found dead. My heartfelt condolences go out to the families at this distressing time."

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, who grew up in a village close to Cilybebyll, and is the son of a miner, is also going to the community centre.

'Thoughts and prayers'

He said: "My thoughts and prayers are with the trapped miners and their families.

"I understand the anguish they are going through and I know they will draw strength from the community which is now enveloping itself around them."

He said the road to the church in the village is closed to allow emergency traffic to get through but the church hall in nearby Resolven is open for people to pray and light candles.

Gleision Colliery, in operation since 1993, works coal under a very steep hillside above the banks of the river Tawe.

It is a small drift mine working a coal seam from the Rhondda in a remote location cut into a hillside in the Swansea Valley.

Access to the mine is down a narrow lane on a very steep hill above the banks of the river Tawe.

It's different from the classic image of a coal mine, reached by a shaft.