Wednesday, October 3, 2007

3000 GOLD MINERS TRAPPED


West 47th Street in New York City is known as the Jewelry Center of the United States. Millions of dollars in diamonds and gold are traded and bought there every day. But at what cost? Please pray for these men.

SA Gold Mine Collapse Traps 3,000
Updated: 22:07, Wednesday October 03, 2007
Three thousand workers are trapped in a gold mine near Johannesburg, in South Africa.
A burst water pipe is thought to have caused a shaft to collapse at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand Mine in Carletonville, according to the workers' union.

It was not immediately possible to get comment from the management of the mine, nor information on how deep down the shaft is.
The spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers said the managers were meeting with union members.
Lesiba Seshoka said miners had gone down the shaft then the water pipe burst and they have not been heard from since about 0900 GMT this morning.

"It's a terrible situation," he said: "The only exit is blocked, probably by a fall of ground."
Gold mine shafts in South Africa are typically 3,000 meters below ground and more, he said.
The union feared the men could be trapped without oxygen because of collapsed earth, or impeded by rockfalls and mud slides caused by the burst water pipe.
Johannesburg is South Africa's economic capital and gold-mining centre.

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