JOHANNESBURG, February 13 (ANA) – Rescue operations at Lily Mine at Barberton, Mpumalanga, were suspended on Saturday morning after another major ground collapse occurred at 5am, Vantage Goldfields said.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the mining company said all search and rescue teams were safely evacuated as a new geotechnical assessment was needed before the resumption of search and rescue operations could be considered.
“Conditions are extremely unstable underground at Lily Mine following a further collapse of the south wall of the open pit,” Vantage Goldfields CEO Mike McChesney said. “I cannot compound this disaster by risking the lives of the rescue teams.”
Three workers remain trapped underground after the crown pillar at the mine collapsed last Friday. Seventy-six mineworkers were rescued.
The company said rescue teams had significantly increased the extraction rate of rocks and debris in the past 24 hours before the new ground collapse.
International specialists brought to Lily Mine had confirmed that the pit area was unstable as ongoing ground movement was detected, it said.
Friday morning marked exactly seven days since Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Mabuza, and Solomon Nyarenda were trapped underground when the lamp room container they were working in fell into the sinkhole before being covered by huge rocks.
– African News Agency (ANA)
