South Africa rescues all 260 miners stuck underground alive

Rescuers on Friday pulled out all 260 mine workers who had been stuck for more than 24 hours in an underground shaft in South Africa, the mine's operator said.

The miners were trapped underground on Thursday at the Kloof gold mine, 60 kilometres 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 brought 79 people to the surface by 1:30 pm (1530 GST) while the rest were rescued six hours later, it said in a statement.

"At no point was there any risk of injury to employees during the incident," it said. A decision had been made against using the emergency escape routes which would have involved the miners walking longer distances, it added.

The National Union of Mineworkers said the incident happened around 10:00 am (1200 GST) on Thursday. It expressed concern for the miners who had been "underground for almost 20 hours".

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

Dozens of mineworkers are killed each year, though the 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.