Canada, 39 miners trapped 1200 meters underground for 24 hours

Thirty-nine workers have been trapped underground at the Tottenham Mine mine in eastern Canada for more than 24 hours following an accident that blocked the main exit on Sunday afternoon. According to the reconstruction, part of the heavy equipment, a bucket used to carry goods underground, was disconnected in an elevator that carried the miners out of the mine, restricting them to a depth of 900 to 1200 meters.

Fortunately, the company that owns the mine, the Brazilian “Vail”, knew none of the men were injured because at the time of the accident they all followed standard procedures for emergency cases and went to shelters. . The worst case scenario was when the company’s spokeswoman Danica Baknutti told Radio Canada that “no one was in the main traffic system at the time of the accident.”

Already on Monday evening, some began to climb towards the exit lane, almost halfway there, but many were waiting for support. Rescue operations are now underway and “teams have begun to reach the miners and move them through the secondary exit ladder system,” the company said in a statement. But some miners can climb stairs, and old or tired workers will be pulled up using ropes. “They ‘have been underground for almost 36 hours now,” Shawn Wright of Ontario Mine Rescue told CTV News. . Thirty-nine have already received food, water and medical treatment and are expected to return to the surface by tonight.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted: “We understand that this bailout will take some time, and we are very relieved to know that the miners are currently unaffected.”

Meanwhile, “Vail” points out that all operations at the mine have been halted and it is necessary to conduct an assessment before resuming production. Kalem McSweeney, a spokesman for the provincial Ministry of Labor, said in an email that the investigation team would investigate the incident once relief work was completed. United Steelworkers, a union representing 30 of the 39 trapped miners, is cautiously optimistic that all will be safely evacuated.

The Tottenham Mine, which had not been used since 1972, reopened in 2014 after the company completed the required work, becoming the first mine to open in the region in 40 years. The production includes copper, nickel and precious metals and employs about 200 people.