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South
Africa Mine Collapse Traps 3,000 Miners

By VOA News
03 October 2007

Rescuers are working to free about 3,000 miners trapped at least
2,000 meters underground at a gold mine near the South African city
of Carltonville.

Amelia Soares, a spokeswoman for the Harmony Gold company which
operates the Elandsrand mine, tells VOA the workers became trapped
Wednesday morning after a pipe broke then fell down the mine shaft,
causing extensive damage to electrical wiring and steelwork that is
part of the mine lift.

Soares says no one was injured, and engineers are working to
reconfigure a smaller, secondary lift to bring 300 men an hour to
the surface. The spokeswoman adds that there has been contact with
the miners.

The Associated Press, citing company and union officials,
reported that 74 miners have been rescued, and that none of the
miners still trapped was in any immediate danger.

Earlier, Reuters quoted a mine workers spokesman saying the union
was concerned that the miners might be suffocating.

Some information for this report
provided by AP and AFP.

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