South Africa: About 87 trapped after collapse at mine

A building collapsed above a gold mine in South Africa on Friday, trapping dozens of people before they were saved.

No fatalities so far, confusion over number of workers involved.

The three people who are still missing worked above ground and were trapped in the building, said Russel Meiring, spokesman for the private emergency service ER24.

Earlier, it was reported that three miners are still unaccounted for. “We are on our way to the mine as we speak”.

The mine – also known as Lily Mine – is located around 224 miles east of Johannesburg.

In a statement issued Friday by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the labour body says about 115 staff are trapped after the main offices at Makonjwaan Gold Mine caved in at around 8.40am.

South Africa, which has several gold, platinum, diamond and coal pits, has been dogged by several mining accidents recently.

Vantage Goldfields is an Australia-based company mining gold at Barberton, a town that traces its origin in the country’s 19 century gold rush. Rescuers had managed to pull out around 80 people, but about 35 remained underground, a mine workers’ union said. It’s current ownership was not immediately clear.

“At this point, it’s unclear what caused the disaster”, Manzini Zungu, a spokesman for the union said.

77 mine workers died previous year in similar incidents.