A DESPERATE search has been launched for four people after they disappeared down a mine shaft that later caught fire.
The search operation has been ongoing for nine hours but has since moved on from the mine after it was established the missing people managed to escape the pit.
Firefighters conducted a search of the mine shaft but found no traces of the four missing people[/caption]
Police, fire crews, paramedics and a Hazardous Area Response Team responded to the blaze[/caption]
The four individuals were last seen walking into the quarry at Elm Cross Yard, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, at on Wednesday evening.
999 crews were scrambled to the scene after a blaze erupted and the system of cavers began to fill with smoke.
Concern was raised that if anyone was inside, they could become critically unwell from the effects of inhalation.
Six fire crews, local police, ambulance and a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) were sent to the area as the large scale search and rescue operation got underway.
The fire was eventually put out using one hose reel jet, and gas monitors and thermal imagine cameras were utilised inside.
Six firefighters equipped with specialised breathing apparatus conducted a search of the mine.
The brave fire crew were accompanied by HM Inspectorate of Mines and Mansfield Mine Rescue.
The four people are yet to be located but it is believed they managed to escape the mine shaft before the fire broke out.
In 2018 the same quarry was the site of a £1 million cannabis bust when police discovered the haul at the site.
A massive search and rescue operation was sparked[/caption]
