One person died and 23 others were rescued after an elevator malfunctioned at an abandoned gold mine in Colorado.
Two teams of 12 people were visiting the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, a private tourist attraction, when the problem occurred on Thursday, leaving one team stranded for six hours.
In the first group, one person died while the remaining 11 tourists, including two children, were rescued from the mine, four of them with minor injuries.
A second group of 12 were trapped in a tunnel below the mine but were all brought back to safety later in the day.
The hour-long tour takes visitors 1,000ft (305m) down the shaft into the southwest face of Pikes Peak, according to the tour company’s website.
Officials say the lift that descends the gold mine has had a mechanical problem 500ft below, causing “significant danger to participants”.
“We had one fatality that occurred during this issue at 500ft,” Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said earlier. He did not provide details.
“There is an elevator issue that needs to be resolved before they can be addressed,” Sheriff Mikesell told reporters.
The rescue teams used the radio to communicate with 12 others who were trapped at the bottom of the mine.
“They have chairs, blankets, and water and are in a safe temperature,” said Sheriff Mikesell. “This was caused by a mechanical malfunction. The mine did not collapse.”
Multiple agencies, including search and rescue teams, responded to the incident with heavy equipment.
Hours later, Governor Jared Polis said: “I am pleased that the 12 people who were trapped in the Mollie Kathleen mine were rescued safely.”
According to the travel company’s website, entering an 1890s gold mine is like riding an elevator, complete with the sounds of mining machinery.
Visitors to Mollie Kathleen view several gold veins exposed in their natural state, the website says.
The website adds that revenue from the tour is used to “maintain the mine in a safe mining condition”.
Officials said the last “incident” occurred in 1986, although they did not provide further details.
On TripAdvisor, several people described the lift as a “cage” for miners. The post, which the BBC could not confirm, said conditions can be harsh and claustrophobic.
William Snare, former miner, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that the elevator can carry between nine and 15 people. He said it took two minutes to get down, and four to five minutes to get back up.
The mine was named after Mollie Kathleen Gortner, the first woman at the Cripple Creek Gold Camp to strike gold in 1891.
These visitors were supposed to be closed on Sunday this season.
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