By DPA
Johannesburg : Around 1,200 of the more than 3,000 workers that have been trapped underground at a gold mine in South Africa since Wednesday morning have been rescued, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said Thursday.
“Our information is that 1,200 have been rescued so far,” NUM representative, Shane Choshane, told DPA.
The workers were among the 3,200 stranded in the Elandsrand mine near Carletonville in Gauteng province since about 10 am (0800 GMT) Wednesday morning after a falling pipe damaged the mine shaft.
The mine is owned by Harmony Gold, the world’s fifth largest gold mining company.
Workers were being hoisted in groups of a few hundred to the surface in a secondary lift that is normally used to transport waste and had to be reconfigured Wednesday night for the purpose.
“It’s a slow process and we will work around the clock.” company spokesperson Amelia Soares told the SAPA news agency.
NUM has accused Harmony Gold of negligence in the maintenance of the shaft, saying an alternative exit route from the shaft could not be used because it was under water.
The drama began when a 15-metre section of pipe column broke off the top of the shaft due to “fatigue” and plunged more than a mile to the bottom, damaging its power supply. The Elandsrand mine is 3,566 metres deep.
“Nobody was injured, but there was extensive damage to the steel work and electrical feeder cords,” Soares said.
Mining unions have repeatedly expressed alarm over the high rate of mining fatalities in South Africa, the world’s largest producer of gold and platinum.
Mine accidents claimed 199 lives in 2006. By late July this year, the industry appeared set for similar fatalities with unconfirmed figures putting the number killed at 110.