Concern over trapped miners

INSPECTORS PROVIDING ADVICE AND SUPPORT Power failure caused underground cage to stop working.

Hundreds of miners remained trapped below ground at shafts one and three at the Sibanye-Stillwater Beatrix gold mine in the Free State yesterday.

The department of mineral resources (DMR) said the trapped mineworkers have been accounted for and that its senior inspectors were on site to provide support and advice on the rescue operation.

“Currently all employees still underground are accounted for. Updates will be provided as the situation unfolds,” DMR said on its official Twitter page.

“The department’s inspectors are on site providing support and advice on the rescue operation following a power outage which resulted in mineworkers being trapped underground.”

According to trade unions, about 950 workers were trapped underground at Sibanye-Stillwater-owned mine after a power failure reportedly due to a severe thunderstorm.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) said about 40 workers at Shaft 2 had been rescued and brought back to the surface, the remaining 900 at Shaft 3 still remain underground.

National Union of Mineworkers spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu told African News Agency that the miners have been trapped since Wednesday night after “the cage taking the workers to the surface stopped working because of a power failure”.

Mammburu said it was not known exactly how many workers were still underground, despite reports of 950 miners being trapped and 65 having been rescued. – ANA

The department’s inspectors are providing support and advice on the rescue operation following a power outage which resulted in mineworkers being trapped underground. Department of Mineral Resources