Hopes fade for missing miners

JOHANNESBURG – Hopes were fading yesterday for five miners in South Africa who were trapped thousands of metres below the surface at one of the world’s deepest gold mines, the mining company said.

“With every passing day and hour, it becomes more difficult to maintain hope that they are still alive,” Alan Fine, spokesman for AngloGold Ashanti, told AFP. AngloGold Ashanti said rescue efforts at TauTona mine, west of Johannnesburg, had been hampered by fresh rock falls, and there had been no sign of life from the group at any point since Monday’s accident.”We had another setback during the night in that there was another fall of hanging wall…We have had to start again,” Fine said.The initial rock fall, whose exact cause is still to be determined, took place on a production panel some 2,7 kilometres below the surface following two tremors around half and hour apart.Two employees were rescued immediately after the accident.One suffered minor injuries and the second sustained back injuries and is in a stable condition in hospital.Fine said that there had been extensive damage from the rock falls in the area where the miners were trapped.”Air supply is not a problem.It’s a well ventilated part of the mine and they might well have been carrying water.The problem is that the area is extremely badly damaged.”The TauTona mine, near the town of Carletonville, began operating in 1962 and is 3,5 kilometres deep.The journey to the rock face can take up to an hour from surface level.Nampa-AFPAngloGold Ashanti said rescue efforts at TauTona mine, west of Johannnesburg, had been hampered by fresh rock falls, and there had been no sign of life from the group at any point since Monday’s accident.”We had another setback during the night in that there was another fall of hanging wall…We have had to start again,” Fine said.The initial rock fall, whose exact cause is still to be determined, took place on a production panel some 2,7 kilometres below the surface following two tremors around half and hour apart.Two employees were rescued immediately after the accident.One suffered minor injuries and the second sustained back injuries and is in a stable condition in hospital.Fine said that there had been extensive damage from the rock falls in the area where the miners were trapped.”Air supply is not a problem.It’s a well ventilated part of the mine and they might well have been carrying water.The problem is that the area is extremely badly damaged.”The TauTona mine, near the town of Carletonville, began operating in 1962 and is 3,5 kilometres deep.The journey to the rock face can take up to an hour from surface level.Nampa-AFP