A worker called Hütter, whose long-time foreman was among the missing, suggested a further escape zone on the previous Sunday to the technical director Ferling. This last escape resort was in an abandoned part of the mine, in ("old man"). Under normal conditions, it was absolutely forbidden to enter this area, but workers now and then had a look at
Alter Mann areas or used them to take a rest or shortcut. The suggestion led to a final hole being drilled down to this highly dangerous and unstable area. When contact with a new group of 11 survivors was established via hammer signal, newspapers and media worldwide began to speak of a miracle. As the experienced rescuers had hoped, more than 20 miners had fled into the
Alter Mann as water rose in the newer parts of the mine. By the time the drill came down, only 11 had survived amid the falling rock, debris, wounded and dying comrades and different water levels. They had only a bottle of tea with them and the batteries of their helmet lamps had to be rationed. Due to instability, the final steps of drilling were done with a compressor. After a few more days of drilling rescue access holes, the 11 miners were brought to safety on 7 November after being trapped for two weeks. They were rescued from a depth of via a diameter shaft, using a device called
Dahlbusch bomb. The remaining 29 workers had died; 19 were killed directly in the disaster, 10 in the aftermath while awaiting rescue. , Munich There were some harsh discussions about why and whether this last resort had not been suggested earlier. As it was revealed later, rumours about the
Alter Mann as a possible refuge had been raised as early as two days after the flooding. However these had not been taken into account till the formal attempt by Hütter.
Der Spiegel described some rumours about
East German involvement against critics as well a sort of psychological barrier between different hierarchy levels as reason for the late search in the
Alter Mann. == Media presence==