The miner who was trapped in a refuge chamber in Goldfield’s Driefontein mine following a fire there on Thursday has been rescued.
Mine representative Willie Jacobs said on Friday that rescue workers retrieved the man from the chamber at about 6.15am. He had been trapped there since Thursday.
Four people were killed and three suffered smoke inhalation after thick, black smoke engulfed the upper levels of Shaft 7 West at about 11am on Thursday, prompting the immediate evacuation of more than 750 miners.
Some 564 people surfaced immediately after the evacuation order was given while another 136 went to specially-equipped refuge chambers and were brought to safety at around 4pm.
Jacobsz said none of the mineworkers had been brunt or exposed to flames because the fire was not raging in the part of the mine where the people worked.
“The problem is not flames but smoke. The fire is actually in a remote part of the mine, far away from where the people are. The smoke is what caused the death of these people,” he said.
Jacobsz also said the cause of the fire was unknown.
Meanwhile, the trade union Solidarity offered its condolences to the families of the deceased on Friday and said it would ask Energy and Minerals Minister Phumzil Mlambo-Ngcuka to declare a day of honour for the “unsung heroes of the mining industry”.
“Rescue teams worked through the night and put their own lives at risk to try to rescue their fellow miners. They worked in harsh and dangerous situations. All of them at Driefontein were treated for dangerous gas and smoke inhalations.
“The media and public forget about these unsung heroes in the mining industry. We hope that through a day of honour we can crown the unsung heroes as the real heroes of the mining industry,” said Dirk Hermann, Solidarity representative.