12 tourists have been rescued after being trapped for hours in a Colorado gold mine

Twelve people were rescued safely Thursday night after being trapped for hours at the bottom of a Colorado gold mine when an elevator malfunctioned in a visitor’s area, authorities said Thursday. One person died as a result of this incident.

An elevator was entering the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near the town of Cripple Creek when it experienced mechanical failure 152 feet below, causing “significant danger to participants,” killing one person, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said. said in a press conference.

The twelve who were rescued were about 305 meters underground. They were safe and communicating with authorities while they waited, and were in good spirits after being rescued, Mikesell said.

The authorities gave them pizza when they got out and told them everything that happened. At the bottom, the authorities had told themselves that there was a problem with the elevators.

Mikesell said during the night briefing that the authorities do not yet know what caused the outage and that the investigation is ongoing. Engineers worked to ensure the elevator was operating safely again before returning trapped guests to the top.

He declined to release the victim’s name.

The incident happened in the last week of the site’s season before it closes for the winter, Mikesell said.

Mikesell said the last accident was in the 1980s but did not say what happened.

Mines that operate as tourist attractions in Colorado must designate someone to inspect the mine and transportation systems daily, according to the state Division of Reclamation, Mines and Safety. Mikesell said he did not know the date of the final examination. Test records were not immediately available online.