Miner talks about narrow escape

A STILL shaken miner spoke for the first time yesterday about how he survived the Kusasalethu Mine collapse in Carletonville.

A short walk to inspect a suspected broken water pipe saved the father-of- two from being swallowed by the 1.8-magnitude seismic underground tragedy that left three mineworkers dead.

“I heard three loud noises behind me some 300m away where I had left my colleagues. I looked back. All I could see was smoke. I ran as fast as I could to the exit,” said the man.

“The passage was blocked by huge rocks and we could hear one of the trapped workers streaming for help. We tried to use shovels to remove the rocks.

“And 15 minutes later the cries from the distressed miner went silent. We assumed he was dead,” said the miner.

Speaking to Cape Times sister paper The Star yesterday, the man was still surprised that he had made it alive out of the belly of Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu Mine.

Efforts to retrieve two of his colleagues, who are still trapped underground, were continuing yesterday, but the company doubted they will be found alive because of the long period they had spent underground.

Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) said it was happy with the company’s efforts to retrieve the remaining workers. Amcu Gauteng regional chairperson Lennox Tshisa said he was concerned that a second rockfall that occurred yesterday morning might thwart rescue operations.

The company’s investor relations manager, Lauren Fourie, said there were six rescue teams working 24/7 to retrieve the workers. She conceded the area was highly seismic and safety measures were in place to protect their 4 500 employees.

Sahlulele Luzipho, chairperson of the portfolio committee on mineral resources, said: “There has to be a way to prevent these events. A study should be done on how to detect them.”