ANGUISH among families, union officials, workers and management grew yesterday as the search for three missing miners – two of them women – ended with no signs of success.
Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Mabuza and Solomon Nyarenda have been trapped without food or water at the Lily Gold Mine in Mpumalanga since Friday.
The last contact rescue teams had with them was at about 1pm on Tuesday.
The only food and water supply the miners had was that which they carried with them underground. Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa said he remained optimistic that the three miners would be found.
“The search continues – it has not stopped,” Mathunjwa – who has been with the emergency team since Tuesday – said.
But the rescue process was very difficult, Mathunjwa said.
Mnisi, Mabuza and Nyarenda were in an underground room, housed in a container, when a pillar of ore collapsed.
The container was swallowed up in a sinkhole as big as a rugby field.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) health and safety official Eric Gcilitshana said the miners’ medical conditions were of great concern as some of them were on chronic medication.
By Tuesday, rescue workers had moved 550 tons of rock and debris but had not located the room in the container.
While the search goes on, health expert Jonathan Witt said the trapped miners would survive without food but not without water as their bodies would dehydrate because of high humidity.
But Witt said there had been exceptional cases of trapped miners surviving.
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