One person died and 23 were rescued after an elevator malfunction occurred at a gold mine in Colorado, USA.
Two groups of 12 people People were touring the Mollie Kathleen gold mine in Cripple Creek, a privately owned tourist attraction, when the accident occurred on Thursday, leaving one group trapped underground for six hours.
One person from the first group died, and 11 other tourists, including two children, were rescued from the mine, four of whom suffered minor injuries.
The second group of 12 were all safely returned later that day.
The hour-long tour takes visitors 1,000 feet (305 meters) down a shaft to the southwest of Pikes Peak, according to the tour company’s website.
Officials said the elevator going down to the gold mine had a mechanical problem about 500 feet underground, posing a serious risk to participants.
“We had one fatality at 500 feet due to this issue,” Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said. He did not give further details.
“We have issues that need to be addressed before we have an elevator problem,” Sheriff Mikesell told reporters.
The rescue team used radio to communicate with 12 other people trapped near the bottom of the mine.
“We have chairs, blankets, water, and it’s kept at a safe temperature,” Sheriff Mikesell said. “This was due to an equipment malfunction. The mine did not collapse.”
Several agencies, including the search and rescue team, responded to the accident by deploying heavy equipment.
Hours later, Gov. Jared Polis said he was “relieved that 12 of those trapped in the Molly Kathleen Mine were safely rescued.”
According to the travel agency website, Entering an 1890s gold mine is like riding a lift with the sound of mining machinery.
Visitors to Mollie Kathleen can see several exposed gold veins in their natural state, the website says.
The website adds that proceeds from the tours are used to “keep the mine in safe, operational mining condition.”
Officials said the last “incident” occurred in 1986, but did not provide further details.
On TripAdvisor, several people described the lift as a miner’s “coop.” The post, which the BBC could not confirm, said conditions could be tight and claustrophobic.
william Snare, A former hoist operator at the mine told the Colorado Springs Gazette that the lift can carry between nine and 15 people. He said it took two minutes to descend and four to five minutes to return to the surface.
The mine is named for Mollie Kathleen Gortner, the first woman to mine gold at Cripple Creek Gold Camp in 1891.
The season’s tour was scheduled to end this Sunday.
