A powerful storm has left over 950 people trapped in a mine in central South Africa. Mining officials are currently able to send food and water down to the miners but have not set a timetable on recovery.
So long as ventilation remains unaffected, no one is in immediate danger.
The 955 miners aren’t able to rise to the surface because of a powerful storm that hit Free State, a South African province. The thunderstorm brought down power lines near the site, leaving the mine’s elevator inoperable and its backup generators overwhelmed with a power surge. While 60 people were rescued overnight, the vast majority remain trapped.
The miners are “pretty deep,” according to James Wellsted, a spokesman for mining company Sibanye-Stillwater. He estimated they were 23 levels down, an equivalent of roughly 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). According to Sibanye-Stillwater’s website that would put them right in the middle of the mine shaft, which goes down 2,000 meters.
According to Wellsted, the current issue is the winder, also known as the hoist which brings miners up. In a video interview, Wellsted describes an electrical surge disabling the winder.
The Beatrix mine, where the miners are trapped, is 290 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of Johannesburg. Free State holds 20 percent of the world’s known gold supply and the mine is the province’s main employer. Unions representing the miners have criticized Sibanye for unsafe working practices.
“We call on Sibanye to speed up the rescue operation. We want to emphasize that we sell our labor, not our lives, lungs, and limbs so they must make sure all those workers underground are rescued alive,” said Nation Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu.
The other major South African miner’s union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), issued equally harsh words for Sibanye.
“There must be an emergency power supply and ventilation for each and every shaft. In this instance, it is clear that these companies they don’t take the lives of the black mineworkers seriously,” said AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa.
