Twelve people were rescued safely Thursday night after being trapped for hours at the bottom of a former gold mine in Colorado after an elevator had a mechanical failure at the site, authorities reported Thursday. One person died in the accident.
The elevator descending to the Mollie Kathleen gold mine near the town of Cripple Creek had a mechanical failure about 500 feet (152 meters) underground, creating a “serious danger to the people it was transporting” and causing the death of one of them, Teller County Police Chief Jason Mikesell said at a press conference.
The mine operates as a tourist attraction.
The 12 trapped adults were about 1,000 feet (305 meters) underground. They were safe and in communication with authorities while they waited, and were in good spirits after being rescued, Mikesell said.
Once they boarded, the authorities gave them pizza and explained what had happened. While underground, authorities had only told them that there was a problem with the elevator.
Mikesell said during a late-night news conference that authorities still do not know what caused the breakdown and that an investigation is underway. Technicians worked to make sure the elevator was operating safely again before loading stranded people.
The police chief did not want to reveal the identity of the victim.
Mikesell said the accident had occurred during the last week of the mine’s visiting season, before the winter closure.
Authorities were notified of the elevator accident around noon, Mikesell reported.
Initially, 11 people on the elevator were rescued, Mikesell said, four of them with minor injuries. The police chief did not provide further details on how they were injured.
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