Yellow warning tape.
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One particular person was lifeless and 12 others had been trapped 1,000 toes (300 meters) underground on Thursday following an elevator failure at a former Colorado gold mine that’s now a vacationer attraction, officers stated.
One other 11 folks had been rescued from the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine attraction in Cripple Creek, Colorado, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell advised reporters.
Emergency responders had been trying to restore the elevator to deliver again the 11 vacationers and one tour information who had been trapped beginning round noon (1800 GMT), Mikesell stated.
With one tour group under floor, the elevator skilled some kind of mechanical failure with one other group aboard whereas it was about midway down the mine shaft. This resulted in one fatality whereas 4 different folks suffered minor accidents, Mikesell stated with out offering particulars of how the particular person died.
That group was in a position to return to the floor on the elevator, which has since been out of fee, the sheriff stated.
Responders had radio communication with the folks trapped under, they usually had water, blankets and chairs to maintain them comfy, Mikesell stated.
However they weren’t advised that somebody died, solely that there was an issue with the elevator, the sheriff stated.
Engineers from the state, mine security specialists and firefighters had been readily available.
Within the occasion the elevator can’t be safely repaired, firefighters had been making ready for a rescue operation, however utilizing the elevator can be a lot safer, Mikesell stated.
“If we have now to, we are able to deliver folks up on these ropes, nevertheless it additionally topics these first responders now to the risk and endangerment of doing so,” Mikesell stated.
A household enterprise has been working excursions on the mine, which is about 110 miles (180 km) south of Denver, for 50 years, with solely one earlier, unspecified security incident in 1986, Mikesell stated.
