Family members and friends of three missing persons wait outside the Vantage Goldfields Limited's Lily Mine's entrance near Barberton, South Africa, Friday Feb. 5, 2016. A miners' union spokesman in South Africa says three people remain missing after a building collapsed above a gold mine, trapping dozens of people. The spokesman said earlier that 87 people were trapped above and below ground. The cause of the collapse is believed to be a sinkhole, according to emergency services. (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
The Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - A building collapsed above a gold mine in South Africa on Friday, trapping dozens of people before they were rescued. After several hours, three people remained missing, a union spokesman said.
Manzini Zungu, spokesman for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, said the building collapse had trapped workers above ground, and dozens of miners below ground.
The incident occurred at the Makonjwaan Gold Mine in the town of Barberton in the eastern Mpumalanga province, Zungu said.
The three people who were still missing worked above ground and were trapped in the building, said Russel Meiring, spokesman for the private emergency service ER24. Paramedics estimate that 76 people were brought to surface, Meiring said. The rescued miners had no serious injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment, he said.
The cause of the collapse is believed to be a sinkhole, Meiring added.
This is the second accident in a South African mine in the past two weeks, Zungu said.
Concerned family members and friends of three missing persons wait outside the Vantage Goldfields Limited's Lily Mine's entrance near Barberton, South Africa, Friday Feb. 5, 2016. A miners' union spokesman in South Africa says three people remain missing after a building collapsed above a gold mine, trapping dozens of people. The spokesman said earlier that 87 people were trapped above and below ground. The cause of the collapse is believed to be a sinkhole, according to emergency services. (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
The Associated Press
Concerned family members and friends of three missing persons sit outside the Vantage Goldfields Limited's Lily Mine's entrance near Barberton, South Africa, Friday Feb. 5, 2016. A miners' union spokesman in South Africa says three people remain missing after a building collapsed above a gold mine, trapping dozens of people. The spokesman said earlier that 87 people were trapped above and below ground. The cause of the collapse is believed to be a sinkhole, according to emergency services. (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
The Associated Press