3000 Men Trapped in Gold Mine

Oct 04, 02:13 AM

Current Headlines: ENGINEERS were last night working to free 3000 gold miners trapped more than a mile underground.

Company officials said a burst water pipe was believed to have damaged an access shaft.

No one was injured but the accident meant the lifts to the surface at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand Mine 50 miles west of Johannesburg, South Africa, could not be used.

The trapped workers, some of whom have been underground for more than 24 hours, have been given supplies of food and water.

But managers said it would take another 24 hours to winch all the men to safety using smaller lifts.

Mining union health and safety chairman Peter Bailey said the men were at a crowded assembly point, hungry, thirsty "and very afraid".

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