3,000 vibes

[tugmoose]

for 3,000 miners.

 

3,000 workers trapped in S. Africa mine

 

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - About 3,000 miners were trapped underground Wednesday when a water pipe burst and probably caused a shaft to collapse in a South African gold mine, union officials said.

 

An official with Harmony Gold's Elandsrand Mine near Johannesburg said company would be able to evacuate the trapped workers over the next 24 hours.

 

Harmony's acting chief executive, Graham Briggs, said on MSNBC that officials have been in contact with the trapped workers and have been sending them food and water.

 

He said the company could evacuate the miners over the next day using a smaller cage in another shaft, but the process would be a slow one.

 

"It's a case of getting a large number of people up in cages," he told MSNBC, according to Dow Jones news service.

 

He said that the workers

[gogo]

Wow, that's heartbreaking. I'm reading a book about the Triangle fire, and as horrifying as it is to picture those poor women trapped in that building, at least their pain was over fairly quickly. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be in a situation where it wasn't readily apparent when, or if, you might be rescued.

 

Thousand of vibes for these miners.

[tugmoose]

150 out so far.

[kidsmoke]

Wow, that's heartbreaking. I'm reading a book about the Triangle fire, and as horrifying as it is to picture those poor women trapped in that building, at least their pain was over fairly quickly. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be in a situation where it wasn't readily apparent when, or if, you might be rescued.

 

Thousand of vibes for these miners.

 

That book sounds intense, Maudie. What's the title? I read a fictional account (very well written) of something similar awhile ago, and the images still haunt me.

 

God save these miners. I can't even imagine the terror. Good news that at least some have been gotten out.

[caliber66]

Looks like more than half have been rescued by now...

[pillowy star]

News reports say that about 2000 are still trapped, but it looks like they can get everyone out. Thank God.

 

Edit: Have you read The Circus Fire, Maudie?

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I guess they've got 2000 out now? That 10 hour timeframe seemed pretty optimistic.

[gogo]

That book sounds intense, Maudie. What's the title? I read a fictional account (very well written) of something similar awhile ago, and the images still haunt me.

Donna, I'm reading this: Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

 

but there's also a fictionalized account that I'm interested in reading: Triangle: A Novel.

 

 

Edit: Have you read The Circus Fire, Maudie?

Dunja, I haven't read that, but large fires fascinate and terrify me. The story that always breaks my heart is the General Slocum fire. It was basically a church picnic, 1300 people from one immigrant neighborhood in New York on a boat on a Sunday afternoon. Between the fire and drowning deaths, over 1,000 people died, wiping out much of the church community.

 

 

I think that's what bothers me most about these mine disasters. Not that one death would be any less tragic, but whether it's a small number of people in a small community, or thousands of people in a larger mining region, the thought of how so many deaths at once will affect that community is particularly chilling to me.

 

Glad to see that they've gotten so many of these miners out safely, hopefully the rest will make it through as well.

[gogo]

AP: All Trapped Miners Rescued in S.Africa

[caliber66]

Yay!