Thousands trapped in South African mine; over half rescued so far

As many as 3,000 mine workers are trapped in Elandsrand mine, a gold mine in South Africa about 50 miles west of Johannesburg in Carletonville, Gauteng, after an incident at 8:00 GMT. The mine is owned by Harmony Gold Mining Corporation. At least 1,300 have been rescued so far and the company stresses that there are no injuries to any miners trapped or rescued.

The mining company says that a lift electrical cable broke on a basket that was carrying miners, trapping thousands at least 2,200 meters (1.3 miles) below the earth's surface. There are no injuries, but some reports say that rescuers have not been able to contact miners. Reports from MSNBC and the Guardian Unlimited say that the shaft may have collapsed when a water or air pipe burst. So far, the rescue operation has been going well with no complications, but mine officials say that the operation could take at least 10 hours before all the miners will be rescued.

"They were underground when the accident happened and they were not able to surface because an electric feeder cable that is connected to the mine lift was severed," said a spokeswoman for the mining company, Amelia Soares. The snap was caused by a "fatigued" air pipe which burst and fell down the shaft damaging the "steelwork and electrical feeder cords," added Soares. So far, 150 have been evacuated. They are all in good condition."

"They are all safe. There have been no injuries or deaths ... It may take as long as 10 hours, the cage (lift) is traveling fairly slowly to avoid risks ...I 'm very confident all will come out," said CEO of Harmony mining, Graham Briggs who also said that the miners have been contacted and have been given "food and water."

Earlier reports had stated that Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman with the National Union of Mineworkers, said that the miners have not been heard from for hours and that they could have been enduring temperatures as high as 105 degrees fahrenheit (40 degrees celsius).

"This is a terrible situation. The only exit is blocked, probably by a fall of ground," said Seshoka.

Rescue workers will use a mine shaft that is next to the damaged one in an attempt to reach the trapped miners. Reports say that only 75 can be lifted to safety at a time and that most should be rescued within the next 24 hours. There is no emergency exit in the shaft which is reported to have "not been maintained for ages," added Seshoka.

"An escape route is the most important thing and they have failed miserably. They need to ensure that the shaft is maintained. This is why we have this disaster. Our main worry is for more than 3,000 people who are underground," said National Union of Mineworkers for S. Africa chairman, Deon Boqwana.

Current reports say that "negligence" was the initial cause for the pipe burst and that there has been a history of negligence from the mine. "We suspect negligence. Because of continuous operations there is no time to make adequate checks," said the President of the Miners union, Senzeni Zokwana to reporters during a news conference.

The Elsrand mine is currently under development and has been since February 2001 when Harmony bought the mine.

The mine is located in the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa, which is said to be the location of the largest area of raw gold on the planet.