Rescuers have hoisted 79 miners who were stuck in a gold mine outside Johannesburg, South Africa but more than 100 were still trapped underground, the mine’s operator said on Friday.
At least 260 miners were trapped underground on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of Johannesburg, after a hoist used to access the shaft was damaged in an accident, the mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said.
The first phase of the rescue had brought 79 people to the surface by 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), it said in a statement.
“Employees still underground have been provided with food and will be hoisted to surface as soon as the shaft safety examination has been completed,” it added.
The gold mine is one of the deepest operated by the South Africa-headquartered company.
Desperate relatives of the miners waited outside the site on Friday evening, images broadcast on local television showed.
The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident had occurred around 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Thursday and expressed concern for the miners who had been “underground for almost 20 hours”.
