Miracle of Lenegede

Wunder von Lengede or Miracle of Lengede was a 14 day long rescue mission at the Mathilde mine near Salzgitter on the west side of the then divided Cold War Germany. The iron mine which opened in 1860 and was in use until 1977 became flooded with 500,000 cubic meters of muddy water
after a sedation pond broke its ground and the tunnels of the mine. Within the first few hours 79 of the 129 workers escaped. Thanks to a burrow hole close to the nearby transport hub in the mine named Hauptbremsberg, seven more miners could be detected. On 7 November 1963 with the help of a newly drilled route, 11 more miners were brought to safety. This event gained worldwide media coverage and became the inspiration for the British
children's tv show Thunderbirds which aired 2 years after the disaster which involved a rescue organisation.