Nearly 1000 trapped mine workers rescued from South African gold mine after almost 30 hours

Welkom, February 2: South Africa feels blessed as nearly 900 mineworkers who were trapped underground for almost a day have been rescued. The workers got left in the gold mine after a power cut. The rescue work got a boost in the early hours of Friday when power was restored. They were trapped underground from Wednesday evening to Friday morning.

Power supply to the mines in Welkom was fully restored at 01H40 on Friday. Technicians from the Eskom Free State Operating Unit worked around the clock to restore power supply under very tough conditions. The difficult operation was led by two brave women, Operations Manager Nozipho Mpanza and Bondozi Mapeka as Recovery Manager.

South Africa is a global leader in gold production but safety of workers over there is often questioned. This accident has again highlighted the fact that safety of the workers are at risk, which trade unions often say. Even in 2017, more than 80 fatalities were recorded in South African mines.