Rescue workers in South Africa are
trying to free nine miners still trapped underground after a fire at Doornkop
mine west of Johannesburg.
Eight other miners have successfully
been brought to the surface, the mine owners Harmony Gold said.
"Efforts continue to establish
the whereabouts of a further nine employees who are currently unaccounted
for," spokesman James Duncan told the BBC.
The fire began on Tuesday evening
about 1,700m (5,600ft) below ground.
Mr Duncan said rescue teams were
struggling to access the affected area because of smoke and rock fall.There is
some confusion about how exactly the fire began.
Harmony Gold has confirmed there was
some seismic activity in the area.
South Africa's National Union of
Mineworkers says this resulted in the collapse of underground rocks which
caused the fire.
"It... caused damage to
ventilation pipes, electric cables and water pipes. The damage to electric
cables triggered fire underground which is still burning," the NUM said in
a statement.
The eight workers who were
successfully rescued on Wednesday had managed to reach a "refuge
bay", where there was compressed air and water kept for such incidents.
The BBC's Andrew Harding in
Johannesburg says the nine missing mine workers will be carrying their own
packs of oxygen and Harmony Gold hopes they will have made their way to other
refuge bays underground.
Our correspondent says the Doornkop
mine is just outside the city, on the west rand - a rich but deep seam of gold.
In recent years the majority of deaths underground have occurred in illegal
mines, he says.
The Harmony Gold team has left the
"Mining Indaba", Africa's largest annual mining conference, being
held in Cape Town.
The meeting has been overshadowed by
a major strike which is currently crippling South Africa's platinum production.
The mining industry is a vital part
of the South African economy.
Source:BBC News
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