Union fears for 3,200 South African trapped miners

William Haskins

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Some 3,200 miners were trapped deep underground in a South African gold mine on Wednesday and a union spokesman said they could be suffocating.

The miners at the Elandsrand mine were caught about 2.2 km (1.4 miles) down after an electrical cable of a lift carrying workers to the surface snapped at around 0800 GMT on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for owners Harmony Gold said.

A National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman said the miners were trapped in a cramped space where temperatures could reach 30 to 40 degrees Celsius (86-104 Fahrenheit).

"We are very worried because ... they might be suffocating," NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said. "There is no contact at the moment. That is our greatest worry."

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0343276320071003
 

blacbird

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Yeah, I just saw this one too. This could be boocoo bad. Those mines are the deepest on the planet, and very difficult places to work in, let alone get in and out of. And the temps are commonly hotter than the figures given in that story.

caw
 

dolores haze

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I had to click on the thread 'cos I figured that number must be a typo. It's not a typo. More than a mile underground? Jesus. What a horrible way to die. Here's hoping they get that rescue mission into effect a little sooner than they're stating.
What's going on with all the mine accidents? Are they happening more frequently or just better publicized?
I grew up in coal mining country, and I still get upset every time I hear about a mine accident.
 

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I can't wait for a certain poster to come flying by and tell us all how common it all is and, and, and. . . . .Yeah. That's right. We need a better example of the dangers of mining. Yep.
 

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Welcome to Africa. It's not like you pick up a cell phone and the government has beaucoup resources and everybody descends on the area with the latest and the greatest of technology and cuts through whatever ragged red tape there is with a state of the art exacto knife.

Sorry Perks, it ain't America. I promise, I know.
 

Perks

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I suppose, but the largest gold mine in the world has to be a treasured asset to somebody. No matter where it was located, if I had heard 'largest gold mine' I would have also have thought 'state of the art.'

I admit my naivete.

This is just sickening.
 

Bird of Prey

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I suppose, but the largest gold mine in the world has to be a treasured asset to somebody. No matter where it was located, if I had heard 'largest gold mine' I would have also have thought 'state of the art.'

I admit my naivete.

This is just sickening.


It is.
 

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Ya'll seem to be rending garments mighty soon. An electrical cable got cut on an elevator.

Sure, it's a really big elevator in a very tall shaft, but the workers aren't buried under tons of rock.

They bring in a new cable and electricians hook it up and up they come.
 

Perks

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Ya'll seem to be rending garments mighty soon. An electrical cable got cut on an elevator.

Sure, it's a really big elevator in a very tall shaft, but the workers aren't buried under tons of rock.

They bring in a new cable and electricians hook it up and up they come.
I, unfortunately, knee-jerked to the part of the headline a while back that mentioned the worry that they're suffocating. I'll be thrilled if that's only yellow hyperbole. I'm not too proud to reverse myself.
 
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William Haskins

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Welcome to Africa. It's not like you pick up a cell phone and the government has beaucoup resources and everybody descends on the area with the latest and the greatest of technology and cuts through whatever ragged red tape there is with a state of the art exacto knife.

Sorry Perks, it ain't America. I promise, I know.

while south africa has yet to establish itself as a first-world country, this isn't uganda here.

it's not like they're bringing in rescue crews on elephants.
 

robeiae

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Bird of Prey

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while south africa has yet to establish itself as a first-world country, this isn't uganda here.

it's not like they're bringing in rescue crews on elephants.

African elephants aren't Indian elephants. They can't be trained with any reliability. Very dangerous. Should I tell you where they dwell, their migratory patterns? Where they are in Africa? What a bull elephant looks like at two hundred FEET, not yards, what poverty looks like from maybe three feet?
 

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The rescue has begun, they're being brought up in small groups now- story here.
 

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I had to click on the thread 'cos I figured that number must be a typo. It's not a typo. More than a mile underground? Jesus. What a horrible way to die.

The only time I've not been able to breathe I was 6 miles up. It works both ways. ;)
 

William Haskins

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Went over my head.

I don't get how miners even do what they do. I'd get claustrophobic. It's got to be the toughest job, ever.

The fact that there are that many miners trapped, is staggering and horrifying.

an animal's desire for self-preservation is often brought into conflict with dangers and circumstances beyond their control.
 

blacbird

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I suppose, but the largest gold mine in the world has to be a treasured asset to somebody. No matter where it was located, if I had heard 'largest gold mine' I would have also have thought 'state of the art.'

I admit my naivete.

This is just sickening.

"State of the art" requires investment of money in infrastructure, safety, etc. It requires giving a schidt about the welfare of the people down there hacking the ore out of the native rock.

In other words, it's a place to cut corners and reduce costs, thus maximizing profit.

Welcome to the Global Economic Marketplace, the successor to the Robber Barons of the western U.S. 120 years ago. Hail Rockefeller! Hail Carnegie! Hail Stanford! Hail Cecil Rhodes!

caw