Nine rescue teams were fighting an underground fire at Simmer and Jack Mines’ (Simmers) Buffelsfontein mine in the North West province on Thursday in a race against time to reach nine missing miners, the company said.
Simmers CEO Gordon Miller said the rescue teams were close to where they thought the men might be, but the fire was hampering them.
”The fire is still raging. We have nine teams on the scene and four more teams are on their way,” he said.
”It is a race against time but everyone is doing their level best to help, including volunteer rescue teams from all our neighbouring mines. We are grateful for the dedication of the rescue teams and support from our neighbours. I can’t thank the mining community enough for their efforts,” Miller said.
In addition to the nine miners unaccounted for, another nine are in hospital after being exposed to smoke inhalation. ”Those in hospital are all doing well,” said Miller.
He said that the families of the missing miners were being contacted to make them aware of the situation and family members would be brought to the mine if Simmers was requested to do so. ”We are giving the families all the support we can,” said Miller.
A suspected electrical fault caused the fire to break out at 11pm on Wednesday.
”The miners tried to fight the blaze but were unable to control it and escaped to the surface,” said Miller.
He said the fire was limited to a stope in the mine’s number-seven shaft and that the other six shafts were operating normally.
An earthquake on March 15 last year caused the death of two people at the mine, but since Simmers took over in July last year there have been no fatalities, the company said. — I-Net Bridge