Three Thousand Miners Trapped in South African Mine

Rescuers working to save 3,200 trapped miners in a South African gold mine have so far brought 1,350 miners to the surface, officials have announced.

The men became trapped underground yesterday when a broken pipe severed power cables to a lift at the Elandsrand mine, owned by Harmony Gold Mining, 80km (50 miles) west of Johannesburg.

Paramedics attended to the miners although none were injured in the accident, according to local reports.

A spokeman for the UK-based National Union of Mine Workers (NUM) told the BBC that the mine shafts had not been properly maintained and blames negligence for the accident.

South Africa's mines have a poor safety record, with about 200 workers believed to have been killed in accidents over the last two years.

Production output at the Elandsrand mine is 450,000oz of gold a year, with full production set to be achieved by 2014.

By staff writer