All Trapped Miners Rescued in South Africa
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CARLETONVILLE, South Africa — The last of 3,200 gold miners trapped for more than 24 hours in a deep shaft were brought safely to the surface Thursday night, ending one of South Africa’s biggest rescue operations, mining officials said.
The final workers emerged just after 9 p.m., singing and dancing, according to the Harmony Gold Mining Co. No casualties were reported.
A pressurized air pipe snapped at the mine near Johannesburg and tumbled down a shaft Wednesday, causing extensive damage to an elevator and stranding the miners.
The rescue operation had dragged on longer than expected. Some of those stranded more than a mile underground had gone down Tuesday for the night shift.
The joyful reunions were mixed with anger, fear, and renewed concern about safety standards in a country that is the world’s largest gold producer.
The miners were brought to the surface in a smaller cage in another shaft that can hold about 75 miners at a time. Most of the miners who emerged into the blinding sunlight looked dazed and exhausted.
“We nearly died down there,” one man yelled as he walked past reporters. “I’d rather leave (the job) than die in the mine.”
Sethiri Thibile, who was in the first batch of miners to be rescued about 19 hours after the accident, said there had been no food or water in the mine.
“I was hungry, though we were all hungry,” Mr. Thibile, 32, an engineering assistant, said. He was given a cold beef sandwich and a bottle of water when he reached the surface.
“Most of the people are scared and we also have some women miners there underground,” he said.
One large group emerged from the shaft singing traditional songs and stamping their feet with joy despite their exhaustion. They were greeted by a crowd of ululating female miners.
Relatives had complained to mine operators that they had not been given enough information about their loved ones.
“I am very traumatized, exhausted, not knowing what is going on,” Sam Ramohanoe, whose wife, Flora, 31, had been among the trapped, said. “It is very unfair to us, not knowing what is going one with our beloved ones.”
