South African Gold Miners Trapped: 950 Workers Stuck After Massive Storm

Tunnel-copper-mine-timna — At the ancient copper mines in Timna Valley, in southern Israel, archaeologists have found the remains of a pregnant women that challenge ideas about the site’s use. שומבלע/Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5

Hundreds of miners were trapped in a gold mine in South Africa Thursday.

Power cables leading to the mine were damaged in a storm which led to over 1000 miners becoming trapped at Sibyane Gold’s mine, said James Wellstead, a spokesperson for the mining company to South African news station ENCA. The trapped miners are safe and are being brought water and food.

At least 64 miners have been rescued so far, leaving around 950 miners still trapped, according to ENCA.

The Beatrix mine where the workers are trapped is located in South Africa’s Free State province.

Wellstead said that the company had brought emergency generators to the site, but was having issues, possibly related to an electrical surge from the storm. The company could not get hoists to work in order to bring the miners up. Wellstead said that the miners were fairly deep underground.

“We’re doing the best we can to get them up as soon as possible,” Wellstead told ENCA.

Sibanye-Stillwater, the company that operates the mine, could not immediately be reached for comment.