Sawt Falasteen - 79 miners rescued from S.African shaft, over 100 still underground

At least 260 miners were trapped underground on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of Johannesburg, after a hoist used to access the shaft was damaged in an accident, the mining company Sibanye-Stillwater said.

The first phase of the rescue had brought 79 people to the surface by 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), it said in a statement.

"Employees still underground have been provided with food and will be hoisted to surface as soon as the shaft safety examination has been completed," it added.

The gold mine is one of the deepest operated by the South Africa-headquartered company.

Desperate relatives of the miners waited outside the site on Friday evening, images broadcast on local television showed.

The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident had occurred around 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Thursday and expressed concern for the miners who had been "underground for almost 20 hours".

Sibanye-Stillwater had earlier said the miners would be brought to surface around midday Friday.

"The employees are not trapped; it was decided to keep them at the sub-shaft station for now," spokesperson Henrika Ninham said.

Mining employs hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa -- the biggest exporter of platinum and a major exporter of gold, diamonds, coal and other raw materials -- and accidents are common.

Dozens of mineworkers are killed each year, though numbers have been falling as safety standards have been stepped up over the past two decades.

According to industry group Minerals Council South Africa, 42 miners died in 2024, compared to 55 the previous year.

D.Qudsi--SF-PST