Tragically, one individual lost their life, and 23 others were rescued after a lift malfunction during a tour of an abandoned gold mine in Colorado, which left a dozen people trapped underground for several hours.
The event took place during the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine Tour, which takes visitors 300 meters underground in the western region of the United States.
A lift failure occurred while a group of 11, including two children, was riding, as confirmed by the Teller County Sheriff’s Office in a statement.
As a result of the malfunction, one person died, while four others sustained minor injuries.
The same lift that malfunctioned was used to bring the 11 people back to the surface, according to the sheriff’s office.
Additionally, 12 individuals who had been trapped in a tunnel at the mine’s bottom were “safely rescued,” as noted by Governor Jared Polis in a post on X.
I am grateful that 12 of the individuals trapped in the Mollie Kathleen Mine have been safely rescued. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the person lost in this tragic incident. I appreciate Teller County and Sheriff Mikesell and his team, along with other law… pic.twitter.com/t1wHa9k7w3
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) October 11, 2024
The tour group, along with a mine employee, had been stranded underground for approximately six hours, Sheriff Mikesell stated to reporters following the rescue.
Once engineers and local officials confirmed that it was functioning safely, the 12 trapped in the tunnel were evacuated in groups of four, he added.
Emergency responders with ropes were on standby in case their assistance was needed.
Those in the mine were provided with chairs, blankets, and water.
“The atmosphere is stable inside the tunnel,” Mikesell stated earlier.
Those still inside the mine were not informed about the fatality.
“We’re trying to minimize their anxiety regarding the situation so that nobody panics,” the sheriff mentioned.
We need your consent to load this comcast-player content. We use comcast-player to manage additional content that may set cookies on your device and gather data about your activity. Please review the details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences
The mine, located near the small town of Cripple Creek, about 160 kilometers south of Denver, offers an opportunity to “Experience the ‘Old West’ as it was for hard rock gold miners in ‘The World’s Greatest Gold Camp,'” according to its website.
A message on the website stated that the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine Tour would be “closed until further notice,” referring to the incident as “tragic.”
