WSJ : Shaft Collapse Traps 3,200 Miners Underground in South Africa

Shaft Collapse Traps 3,200 Miners Underground in South Africa

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES | October 3, 2007

About 3,200 miners are trapped at a South African gold mine owned by Harmony Gold Mining Ltd., though no injuries have been reported.

Speaking on MSNBC, Harmony's acting chief executive, Graham Briggs, said the workers -- consisting of the mine's entire morning shift -- became trapped after damage to a shaft made it unsafe for workers to use.

Mr. Briggs said Harmony has been in contact with the trapped workers and has been sending them food and water. He added the company would be able to evacuate the trapped workers over the next 24 hours using a smaller cage in another shaft, but the process would be a slow one.

"It's a case of getting a large number of people up in cages," he told MSNBC.

The South African Press Association reported that there were other outlets for workers, some of whom were making their way to shafts in an adjacent AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. mine.

The National Union of Mineworkers, or NUM, said the mine workers had been trapped since 10 a.m. local time, but reports of the accident didn't surface until 9 p.m., SAPA reported.

There was no emergency exit in the shaft, which had "not been maintained for ages," NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka charged in a statement issued on Wednesday night.