Johannesburg - Breaking News

Sunday around lunch time we heard the news that in the Harmony Gold Mine Company had a big trouble. It is one of the leading gold mining companies in South Africa. Its name is well known all over the world, because it has the deepest mines in the world and it has a big gold production. During maintenance work on a bulk air cooler there was a big fire in the Kusaselethu gold mine in Johannesburg. The fire started on Sunday morning on the75th level, about 2300 meter below surface. The whole world was shocked that almost 500 mineworkers were trapped underground. It was a very strange feeling, because on Saturday I also visited a gold mine in Johannesburg. We only were around 200 meters deep and I found that it was too warm and scary. What were the mine workers thinking?  How difficult it is for their families? They are trapped about 2300 meters deep underground. Some of the miners could use refuge bays underground which were supplied with fresh air, water  and telephone communication to surface. The mine rescue team was working very hard to get the workers out of the mine. After 11 hours the rescuers brought all workers to safety by Sunday evening. They were very lucky that without any injury everybody is saved in a relatively short time. But for the mineworkers 11 hours felt like years.

I got lots of different messages from friends and families because they heart this breaking news and they knew that exactly on that weekend I was in Johannesburg.

 

Underground fire rescue

World news - mine accident