A tragic accident at a platinum mine in South Africa’s Limpopo province has resulted in the deaths of 11 mine workers, and 75 others injured after a lift bringing the workers back to the surface dropped about 200 metres (656 feet). mining officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Impala Platinum said the “serious accident” happened on Monday in the late afternoon at its mine in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, as employees were leaving one of the shafts at the end of their shift.
“Eighty-six employees were standing in the lift, eleven lost their lives and all the others were transferred to hospitals,” a company spokesman told AFP, adding that some of them were seriously injured.
In this 1,000-metre-deep shaft, some 150 km north-west of Johannesburg, the lift picked up miners at the bottom and stopped several times on the way up to “collect the miners at the end of their shift”, shortly before 5 p.m. on Monday (15:00 GMT), Johan Theron, a spokesman for the mining company, told AFP.
At the third stop, “it suddenly started to go back down”, he added, explaining that the system was automated.
The rescue operation has been completed, said Impala Platinum, which said it was “devastated” by the fatal accident and that all operations at the mine had been suspended on Tuesday. An investigation has been opened.
“Our hearts are heavy for the lives lost and the individuals affected by this devastating accident,” Impala Platinum’s (Implats) CEO, Nico Muller, said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of our colleagues and are in the process of ensuring all next of kin have been contacted”.
The company said the injured 75 workers were transferred to local hospitals, and admitted for treatment.
Implats spokesman Johan Theron told the AFP news agency that some were severely injured, most suffered from ankle and leg fractures, and others walked out with minor scratches.
The accident happened shortly before 5pm (15:00 GMT) on Monday as the lift hoisting employees “unexpectedly started descending”, according to the company. “Its rapid descent was stopped by the conveyance counterweight becoming trapped by the jack catches,” it said in a statement.
South Africa is the world’s largest producer of platinum.
The country had 49 fatalities from all mining accidents in 2022, a decrease from 74 the year before. Deaths from South African mining accidents have steadily decreased in the last two decades from nearly 300 in the year 2000, according to South African government figures.
South Africa, one of the world’s largest platinum producers, has struggled to curb dangerous accidents in its mining sector. Earlier this year, government safety officials reported at least 46 mining deaths over a 12-month span.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has since called for heightened prosecutions of mining companies that violate safety regulations.
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