SOUTH AFRICA: The last number of the miners trapped in a Harmony Gold mine rescued

Record ID: 455745

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: The last number of the miners trapped in a Harmony Gold mine rescued
  • Date: 5th October 2007
  • Summary: MINERS AND UNION MEMBERS SINGING IN CELEBRATION
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA4V6GM313JD6GASGWEUCQRQYWY
  • Story Text: The last of 3,200 miners trapped deep in a South African gold shaft was saved on Thursday (October 4), capping a day-long rescue mission that began amid fears of the worst and ended with wild celebrations.
    The miners ordeal began late Wednesday (October 3) night when an electricity cable to the mine's main lift was severed, stranding the mine's workforce, which included an estimated 200 women.
    They were stuck in a cramped space in the mine where temperatures were believed at times to have reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
    South African Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica was among those who danced and sang when an exhausted Mandis Mandanga, 57, walked out of Harmony Gold's Elandsrand mine outside of Johannesburg at 1838 GMT.
    "I am very, very grateful to them on behalf of the country, the families and government, I am saying to them bravo they must keep up the good work. Way forward, we are looking at stabilising all the people, we want to make sure that everybody is safe completely, but the second priority would be to mend the shaft because workers have to go back to work, third one is the investigation, we have to investigate the circumstances that led to this accident," Sonjica told the media.
    The accident prompted the government to order Harmony Gold, the world's fifth biggest gold miner, to shut down operations at the mine for six weeks.
    As the miners emerged from 2.2 km (1.4 miles) underground they were handed food packages before they headed to their hostel accommodation. The miners were brought up slowly in a small lift to avoid risks, mining officials said.
    Harmony Gold said clean air and water had been pumped to the workers while they were underground.
    Both the company and the mining union said better safety standards were needed at the mine near Carletonville, southwest of Johannesburg. Company chairman Patrice Motsepe described the accident as a "wake up call to all of us".
    Sonjica, who this week visited a mine operated by AngloGold Ashanti where four workers were killed in a rock fall, ordered on Thursday that the Carletonville operation be shut down for six weeks.
    Gold mine operations have come under scrutiny over the past few months after a series of accidents. Companies are mining ever deeper to reach remaining seams and reap the benefits of a sharply higher world bullion price.
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