A major rescue operation is underway to save 260 mine workers trapped underground in a South African gold mine.
Rescuers are attempting to provide food to the trapped workers in the three-kilometre-deep Kloof gold mine near Johannesburg. A miners’ union says the workers are without food.
"We can confirm that we had an incident at Kloof 7 shaft and are busy with making safe and shaft exam procedures, whereafter we will then hoist the employees out to surface," mining company Sibanye Stillwater said.
Mining company Sibanye Stillwater says the workers are safe after the incident at 10pm (9pm BST). Safety procedures and an examination of the shaft were under way, the spokesperson added, after which the miners would be hoisted to the surface.
An initial investigation showed that a sub-shaft rock winder skip door opened at the loading point and caused some damage to the mineshaft, the company said.
The situation is expected to be resolved by midday, Sibanye said - but mine experts have said the more than 3km deep shaft must at first be guaranteed safe.
“We don’t want to let the employees walk far distances at this time and hence it’s best for them to stay where they are at the station until it is safe to proceed to the surface,” the company added. “We are in the process of also providing them with food. We expect the situation to be resolved by about midday today.”
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) confirmed they had heard about the incident on Friday morning. “We are angry that Sibanye has tried to hide the fact that 300 workers are trapped underground without food,” NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu told South African outlet the Daily Maverick.
Shaft 7 of the Kloof mine is a classic ultra-deep Witwatersrand gold operation which is more than 3km deep, the DM reported, increasing the difficulty in extracting the workers.
An NUM spokesperson earlier said: "We have reports that about 300 workers are trapped underground at Kloof mine No. 7 shaft. The incident happened at around 10 pm yesterday," a spokesperson for NUM told Reuters.
Mining accidents in South Africa are relatively common. Earlier this year, at least 78 bodies were pulled from an illegal gold mine after police cut off food and water supplies for months in an attempt to crack down on illegal mining activity.
Johannesburg-based Sibanye is among only a few South African miners squeezing profits from the area's gold deposits. The precious metals producer is mining at depths of about 3,200 meters (2 miles) at the Kloof 7 shaft.
The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye's total gold output, also operates two other shafts.
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