South Africa: About 87 trapped after collapse at mine

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A building collapsed above a gold mine in South Africa on Friday, leaving about 87 people trapped, a union spokesman said.

At least 52 people were trapped when the office building collapsed, trapping an additional 35 miners below ground, said Manzini Zungu, spokesman for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. Zungu said 80 other miners were rescued.

The incident occurred at the Makonjwaan Gold Mine in the eastern town of Barberton, Zungu said. The cause of the collapse is not yet known.

The rescued miners had no serious injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment, television news channel eNCA reported.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/276a98d483d64cfdbd2f28689a2549ed/south-africa-about-87-trapped-after-collapse-mine

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Update: now only 3 still missing, who were working above ground

At same link:

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A building collapsed above a gold mine in South Africa on Friday, trapping dozens of people before they were saved. After several hours, only three people remained missing, a union spokesman said.

Manzini Zungu, spokesman for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, said the building collapse had trapped workers above ground, and dozens of miners below ground.

The incident occurred at the Makonjwaan Gold Mine in the town of Barberton in the eastern Mpumalanga province, Zungu said.

The three people who are still missing worked above ground and were trapped in the building, said Russel Meiring, spokesman for the private emergency service ER24. Paramedics estimate that 76 people were brought to surface, Meiring said. The rescued miners had no serious injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment, he said.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Trapped South Africa mine workers 'still alive'

There are signs that the three people trapped in a South African gold mine following an accident last week are still alive, rescuers say.

The workers are stuck in the lamp room, buried under tonnes of rubble which fell after a building collapsed into the mine on Friday.

The rescue team says they have got a response to tapping sounds that they made from above.
...
"We've started seeing indications that we're getting close to this lamp room," one of the mine managers Mike Begg told South Africa's Eyewitness News.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35520980