Johannesburg - There were loud cheers, ululation and clapping of hands when a fourth miner emerged from the belly of the earth where he had been trapped for a few days.
Visibly exhausted, weak and full of dust, the man could not walk on his own from the disused shaft at George Harrison Park in Langlaagte. He leaned on two rescuers for support as they walked to the waiting ambulance. Too weak to climb on to the stretcher on his own, one of the rescuers lifted him and put him on the stretcher.
Paramedics then assesed him before taking him to hospital.
Spokesman for emergency services Synock Matobako said four teams of rescuers were involved in this search and rescue mission. He said the distance from the surface to where the trapped miners were was about 1.5 kilometres. So harsh conditions were underground that the rescuers had to take their gear off and crawl through the tiny tunnels to reach the trapped miners, he said.
Matobako also said the rescuers' oxygen which lasts four hours ran out before the could reach the trapped miners and another team had to take over.
So far, rescuers took two illegal miners down the shaft with them to help them locate where the miners are amid the complex and myraid sections underground.
The newly appointed MMC for Public Safety in the City of Joburg, Michael Sun has also been keeping the anxious families on what is happening. The rescue mission continues.
The Star