Three miners rescued, one missing at Driefontein mine
By Tando Mfengwana08 June 2007
A tremor registering 2.5 on the Richter scale hit the Gold Fields Driefontein East Mine near Carletonville, trapping four miners underground on Thursday at about 23h05.
A rescue operation managed to free three of the miners this morning but is still trying to locate one more miner. Workers union Solidarity has raised safety concerns about Gold Fields mine in Dreifontein.
“We are hoping that the fourth person is still alive and the emergency team is still looking for him,” a union spokesperson said.
“We are concerned at the amount of fatalities and injuries that occurred at the Driefontein Mine over the past six, where nine people have died already in various incidents,” says Solidarity’s spokesperson on Occupational Health and Safety, Chris Pienaar.
He says they are engaging the mine management in talks and participating in the inspector of mines inquiry into the incidents.
From June 2005-June 2006 about 39 Gold Fields workers were involved in fatal accidents and 26 in the previous financial year.
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