900 gold miners trapped underground after South Africa power failure

Source: International Business Times


Miners at the Beatrix mine work up to 2.2km underground.

Around 60 miners were rescued overnight with approximately 900 still trapped.

Those trapped have been receiving food and water.

By David Brennan
February 1, 2018 18:56 GMT

The outage has been blamed on a 31 January thunderstorm that brought down electrical lines, leaving the workers trapped in the Beatrix gold mine near Welkom in Central Free State.

Around 60 miners were rescued overnight, leaving approximately 900 still trapped.

James Wellsted, a spokesman for Sibanye-Stilwater - the company that owns the site and the largest individual producer of gold in the country - told local media that power was being restored, but there was not yet enough generated to rescue the remaining miners.

Wellsted said that those still trapped were safe and were receiving food and water.

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/900-gold-miners-trapped-underground-after-south-africa-power-failure-1658170