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NEWS AFRICA

Thousands
trapped in S Africa mine

The Elandsrand mine is
located near Johannesburg

A
rescue operation is under way after more than
3,000 miners were trapped underground at a gold
mine in South Africa.

Union
leaders say they fear the men could be
suffocating without enough oxygen.

"We
are very worried because ... they might be
suffocating," Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman for
the National Union of Mineworkers, said.

Amelia
Soares, a spokeswoman for Harmony Gold, the
world's fifth biggest gold producer, told Al
Jazeera the workers at the Elandsrand mine in
South Africa's Mpumulanga province, near
Johannesburg were trapped after an electrical
cable of a lift carrying workers to the surface
snapped on Wednesday.

But
Seshoka told Al Jazeera a water pipe had
burst and probably caused the lift shaft to
collapse.

Seshoka
said: "It's a terrible situation. The only exit
is blocked, probably by a fall of ground."

He
added: "There is no contact at the moment. That
is our greatest worry."

He
said the miners
were trapped in a cramped space where
temperatures could reach
30 to 40 degrees Celsius.

The
miners were caught about 2.2km underground,
Harmony
Gold said.

Soares
said mine engineers were trying to retrieve the
workers by lowering an adjacent lift to their
position.

She
said the rescue operation could last well into
Thursday morning, as it may only be possible to
lift out a few hundred at a time.

Last
year, 199 mineworkers died in accidents, mostly
rock falls, the government Mine Health and
Safety Council reported in
September.

Source:
Agencies

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