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South Africa Miners Trapped Underground

Jan. 13, 2000

Nine miners in South Africa, trapped more than a mile underground, were believed to be alive yesterday morning.

Rescuers managed to pass food and water through a narrow, twisting pipe yesterday to a group of miners trapped more than a mile underground.

Nine of the 15 miners trapped inside the African Rainbow Minerals gold mine in Orkney, South Africa 110 miles southwest of Johannesburg, were believed to be alive on Wednesday morning, a National Union of Mineworkers representative said.

Rescue teams said at least four miners had died.

Rescue teams made voice contact late Tuesday with the miners who were trapped 1 1/4 miles underground by a cave-in on Monday.

Rescuers removed at least 160 tons of broken rock to get near the miners.

An earth tremor triggered the cave-in, company officials said.

Of the trapped miners, eight were from Lesotho, two from Mozambique, one from Swaziland and four from South Africa.

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EHS Today Staff

EHS Today's editorial staff includes:

Dave Blanchard, Editor-in-Chief: During his career Dave has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeek, EHS Today, Material Handling & Logistics, Logistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. In addition, he serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Adrienne Selko, Senior Editor: In addition to her roles with EHS Today and the Safety Leadership Conference, Adrienne is also a senior editor at IndustryWeek and has written about many topics, with her current focus on workforce development strategies. She is also a senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics. Previously she was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank. She is the author of Do I Have to Wear Garlic Around My Neck?, which made the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best sellers list.

Nicole Stempak, Managing Editor: Nicole Stempak is managing editor of EHS Today and conference content manager of the Safety Leadership Conference.