Rescuers Save 1,350 South African Gold Miners

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Rescuers save 1,350 South African gold miners
By James Macharia

ELANDSRAND MINE, South Africa (Reuters) - Rescue teams working to save 3,200 miners trapped deep underground in a South African gold mine brought 1,350 to the surface on Thursday morning, mine and union officials said.

Mine owner Harmony Gold said the rescue operation was going smoothly and that a secondary lift was bringing up batches of miners stranded underground when the electricity cable of the main lift was cut in an accident.

But the powerful mining union said it suspected negligence was behind the accident and vowed to push gold firms to build secondary, or emergency, exits in the mine.

Chief Executive Officer Graham Briggs told Reuters he was confident all the miners would be lifted to the surface in a small elevator at the Elandsrand mine near Carletonville, southwest of Johannesburg.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071004/wl_nm/harmony_miners_dc

[MADem]

1. That is a shitload of miners...!!!! nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Oh, that is very good news!

Sounds as though all will be rescued...

I wonder how their mine safety requirements differ from ours...

Of course, this isn't a coal mine. Maybe those are constructed differently...

[cboy4]

3. Right on. Any good news in the world these days is

without saying more than welcome.

I hope that irresponsible mine owner in Utah is feeling guilty.

[merwin]

9. You do realize that 1300 is only about half of them, right?

That leaves 1000+ workers still trapped... With that many workers, it makes sense that a certain number of workers would be easier to get at, since they're not all in the same place.

That being said, I still hope that the bastards running the mines in the USA feel plenty of guilt and shame.

[RantinRavin]

13. They are all at the same place

They are trapped becuase the lift that was carrying them down in the mine had a cable break.

[Bozita]

4. Union? Like in labor union? I think we need them here too.

[jordi_fanclub]

5. Here's a photo of Elandsrand's mine lift...

http://www.harmony.co.za/im/g_elandsrand.asp

[truthisfreedom]

17. That looks like asbestos overhead.

Behind the hardware cloth.

[greyl]

6. Why do so many risk their lives for someone else's gold?

Why do so many have to give it away for a small share of their own?

[merwin]

10. The job market over there is probably not as open as our job market.

Less minimum wage fast food jobs available.

[Thothmes]

14. Its a paycheck . Same reason men mine coal

[HamdenRice]

15. This should be obvious

They do it in order to eat, purchase shelter and have clothing for themselves and their families.

Here's a primer: In the 19th century, Boer commandos and the British colonial army stole most of the arable land from the indigenous people and alloted it to white farmers.

This made the majority of Africans in South Africa landless.

This meant that Africans, in order to have the basics of subsistence, were forced to work for whites, including in the mines. They still do.

Were you not aware of this?

[jordi_fanclub]

7. By now more than 1500 safe...

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (Harmony) has announced that 1,500 mine workers have been brought to surface at its Elandsrand Gold Mine near Carletonville, since the rescue operations commenced in the early hours of 4 October 2007.

The mine’s 3 200 employees were trapped underground when a 15-metre compressed pipe column broke off below the shaft surface bank and fell to the shaft bottom. No one was injured.
Extensive damage was caused to the shaft steel-work and the electrical feeder cords to the man-and-material shaft were severed. Elandsrand operates a two-shaft system and an auxiliary mine lift was configured to hoist mine workers through the second shaft system, namely the rock and ventilation shaft.

The 1,500 workers that have been brought to surface are in good health and have stated that their colleagues underground are calm and waiting patiently to surface.
The mine is being well ventilated and the remaining mine workers have access to water and medical supplies. A team of paramedics was sent down immediately after the first workers were brought to surface.

The rescue operation should take about 10 hours to bring everyone to surface. Management is confident that all the workers will be brought to surface by 4 o’clock this afternoon.

[NorthernSpy]

8. the union's shop stewards went down into the mine with the rescuers...

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said shop stewards were sent down with the rescuers in order to calm the anxieties of those waiting to surface.

"Anxiety and exhaustion can create a situation where you get anxiety attacks and people might rush the cages," NUM spokesman Peter Bailey told AFP.

One of the first to emerge to the ground said however there was little sign of panic.

"We were not too worried because we had our (head)lights. We were singing, speaking to each other to pass the time," said Serame Mnisi.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAx_XAz-ZMWY4iHw1AcFYI2c9a1g



Everywhere in the world, miners have this same kind of solidarity. Those who are safely up top when something goes wrong will go into down into that tunnel without a second thought to help those who are trapped below.

[merwin]

11. In any job where the threat of death is great, there is a sense of solidarity.

Police officers, firefighters, miners. As a whole, they would all risk their lives to rescue someone without a second thought... even if they have never met the person before.

[NorthernSpy]

12. mine's cooling system failed; 105 degrees F; some workers trying to leave via neighboring tunnels...

Some more details in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,,2183305,00.html


The other mine tunnel is the connected Anglo-Ashanti mine. But that's going to be a daunting underground hike with no food or water in the fierce heat of the uncooled mine tunnels.


:scared:


Please let everyone make it out okay!

[cal04]

16. All Trapped Miners Rescued in S. Africa

Singing and dancing despite exhaustion, the last of 3,200 miners trapped deep underground for more than a day emerged safely Thursday night, delivering a happy ending but raising questions about the safety of South Africa's important gold mines.

Government officials announced that the Elandsrand mine, one of the top producers in the world's leading gold-mining nation, would stay shut for at least six weeks while experts studied what caused a pipe to break and crash down the main shaft Wednesday, knocking out the elevator.

The national miners union threatened unspecified ``industrial action'' against the mining business, accusing managers of earning fortunes while compromising on safety. It said that among other things, companies have let alternative escape routes flood rather than maintain them.

The final group of 45 workers brought out through an auxiliary shaft normally used to remove debris arrived at the surface shortly before 9 p.m., walking out caked in dust but otherwise healthy a day and a half after the accident.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6972817,00.html

[NorthernSpy]

18. YAY!!!!! Solidarity forever!

For the



makes us strong!

[Javaman]

19. I'm still confused as to why people think that these miners where "trapped"?

One of the elevators was out so they brought them all up the other one.

I'm still confused by all of this.

[NorthernSpy]

20. because 3,200 people were stuck 7,500'' below the surface, in 105F heat...

... without food or water, for more than a day. People looked for alternate routes out, and reportedly found that most escape tunnels were flooded or impassable. It took a long time to get everyone out via the small rubbish lift: it was never meant to move whole shifts of workers.

The biggest fear early on was that they might not be able to keep the oxygen levels in the mine high enough, and that the miners (knowing that this was a possibility) might start to panic. Neither of those things happened -- which is due to good fortune, effort by the rescuers, and to the strong spirit of the miners.



So yeah, they were trapped, which is what we call it when you're stuck somewhere and can't just leave on your own. People had to work around the clock to get them out.

[Javaman]

21. Okay, I admit sometimes I'm stupid and say really stupid things. :)

thanks for the clarity. :)

Peace.