Tragedy Strikes: Gold Mine Collapse in Australia Leaves One Dead and Another Critically Injured
In a devastating turn of events, a man has lost his life and another is fighting for survival after a gold mine collapse in Australia.
The incident occurred at a site in Ballarat, near Melbourne, where the pair were struck by falling rocks 500m (1,640ft) underground on Wednesday afternoon local time.
While 29 miners sought refuge in a nearby “safety pod”, the injured man had to wait almost four hours before being evacuated from the scene.
A trade union has condemned the incident and a thorough investigation will be carried out by a workplace regulator to determine the cause of the collapse.
The body of a 37-year-old man was discovered at the scene, approximately 3km from the mine’s entrance, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
His 21-year-old colleague, who sustained lower body injuries, was stabilized by paramedics and rescued from the mine the previous night. He remains hospitalized, as confirmed by Victoria Police.
Victory Minerals, the owner of the mine, expressed deep sorrow over the tragic loss of one of their own in a statement.
The Australian Workers Union criticized the use of a manual extraction technique called “air legging”, which involves drilling into rock with a handheld device, citing safety concerns that have led some mines to discontinue the practice.
Ronnie Hayden, branch secretary of the union, emphasized that this fatality could have been prevented and called for accountability under workplace manslaughter laws.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen extended her thoughts to the affected workers and families, refraining from speculating on the cause of the accident at this early stage.
Despite attempts to reach out, Victory Minerals declined to provide further comments when approached by the BBC.
Notably, in 2021, a state regulator had issued a warning to the mine’s previous operator following a tunnel collapse involving 600 tonnes of rock.
Back in 2007, the mine garnered attention when a rockfall trapped 27 workers about 700m underground, all of whom were successfully rescued. – BBC
