STOENESTI, Romania (Reuters) - Romanian security forces using teargas and rubber bullets stopped thousands of protesting coal miners from advancing on the capital Bucharest on Wednesday, witnesses said. The miners, armed with clubs, chains and axes, had tried to force their way past a roadblock on a bridge near the village of Stoenesti, some 160 km (100 miles) west of Bucharest. "The miners have been defeated," a police officer told Reuters at the scene after two hours of fierce clashes. Witnesses saw ambulances ferrying scores of injured policemen and miners towards nearby hospitals. The number of casualties was not immediately known. Miners` leader Miron Cozma and thousands of coal miners swept past police roadblocks on Tuesday as they headed towards Bucharest. They were defying a court ruling sentencing Cozma to 18 years in jail. Monday`s ruling was linked to charges over his role in unrest in Bucharest in the early 1990s during which the first post-communist government was toppled.