Nearly a third of the 260 miners stuck underground following an accident at a Sibanye-Stillwater gold mine in South Africa were brought to the surface on Friday, the company said, as a senior union official confirmed there had been no injuries.
Advertisement
The miners were stuck underground after the hoist system used to access a shaft at the Kloof gold mine – one of Sibanye’s deepest, situated about 60km (37 miles) west of Johannesburg – was damaged in an accident on Thursday.
Sibanye said 79 of the employees had been brought to the surface by 1.30pm in the first phase of an operation to extract the miners.
“The remaining 181 employees … have been provided with food and will be hoisted to surface as soon as safety to hoist is confirmed,” Sibanye said in a statement.
A company spokesperson said late Friday afternoon that the process was expected to be completed “soon”.
Advertisement
“Fortunately there were no fatalities or injuries,” National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Health and Safety Chairperson Duncan Luvuno told journalists at the site. “But for … 24 hours people were not eating or drinking anything. This is not adequate. Some have chronic diseases.”
