All 3,200 South African miners pulled to safety

updated 3:33 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2007

CARLETONVILLE, South Africa - The last of the more than 3,200 gold miners — some singing, some swearing, but most looking dazed — were hauled from deep underground Thursday more than 24 hours after an accident crippled the main elevator leading to the surface.

There were no casualties when a pressurized air pipe snapped at the mine near Johannesburg and tumbled down a shaft Wednesday, causing extensive damage to an elevator and stranding more than 3,200 miners more than a mile underground.

The trapped workers were brought to the surface in a second, smaller cage in another shaft that can hold about 75 miners at a time. Most of the miners who emerged into the blinding sunlight looked dazed and exhausted, but there were no signs of injuries.

“We nearly died down there,” one man yelled as he walked past reporters. “I’d rather leave (the job) than die in the mine.”

Sethiri Thibile, who was in the first batch of miners to be rescued about 19 hours after the accident, said there had been no food or water in the mine.

“I was hungry, though we were all hungry,” said Thibile, 32, an engineering assistant who had been underground since early Wednesday morning. He was given a cold beef sandwich and a bottle of water when he reached the surface.

“Most of the people are scared and we also have some women miners there underground,” he said.

One large group emerged from the shaft singing traditional songs and stamping their feet with joy despite their exhaustion. They were greeted by a crowd of ululating female miners.

Relatives 'traumatized'
Earlier in the day, relatives of those still trapped stood outside the mine’s offices, complaining that they had not been given enough information about their loved ones.

“I am very traumatized, exhausted, not knowing what is going on,” said Sam Ramohanoe, whose wife, Flora, 31, was among the trapped at the time. “It is very unfair to us, not knowing what is going one with our beloved ones.”

During the ordeal, the trapped workers were all near a ventilation shaft and had been given water and food.

Deon Boqwana, regional chairman for the National Union of Mineworkers, said the smaller cage being used to bring them out normally takes three minutes to reach the surface, but it was moving slower because officials were taking extra precautions.

Peter Bailey, the union’s chairman for health and safety, said rescuers did not want to put too much pressure on the elevator. It was also going slower because of problems with the electrical supply installed for the rescue, officials said. By the afternoon, the cage was coming up every 30 minutes, rather than every 15 minutes as it had earlier in the day.

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