Search and rescue teams pulled a body from the rubble of a collapsed Australian gold mine on Thursday (14/3), after a massive rescue operation previously succeeded in evacuating 29 mine workers trapped underground.
A group of 30 miners were working deep inside the Ballarat Gold Mine in Victoria state when the mine collapsed Wednesday (13/3) evening.
While 29 workers were rescued within hours, another 37-year-old male miner was helplessly crushed by falling rocks.
Emergency crews worked hard through the night to pull the miner out of the rocky rubble, about three kilometers from the mine site entrance.
His body was finally evacuated from the mine on Thursday morning.
Union officials have questioned the mine's safety record, citing a similar incident in 2007 when another company managed the mine. Now, the current mine owner is facing a serious workplace safety investigation.
“This is very sad, because we have lost another worker, when no worker should be injured or die at work,” said Australian Workers Union secretary Ronnie Hayden.
“What's even sadder is that this could have been avoided.”
Hayden said his union would push state authorities to file lawsuits using the “industrial homicide” law.
“Our members are angry. “Our administrators are angry,” he said.
Union members have voiced their complaints about the mine's use of “air leggings,” a manual drilling method carried out by two people, Hayden said.
“It seems that the complaints were not listened to,” he concluded. (rd/rs)