(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-04 21:58

CARLETONVILLE, South Africa - More than 2,000 trapped gold miners were rescued in a dramatic all-night operation, and efforts gathered speed Thursday to bring hundreds more to the surface.

Rescued miners walk free after they were trapped overnight at the Elandsrand Gold mine near Carletonville, south west of Johannesburg South Africa, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. [Agencies]

There were no casualties when a pressurized air pipe snapped at the mine near Johannesburg and tumbled down a shaft Wednesday, causing extensive damage to an elevator and stranding more than 3,000 miners more than a mile underground.

The mine owner and South Africa's minerals and energy minister vowed to improve safety in one of the country's most important industries.

The accident prompted allegations of the industry cutting safety corners in the name of profit - and accusations from the government that mine owner Harmony Gold Mining Co did not bother to inform it of the potentially devastating crisis.

Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica complained that she found out from the late evening news about the accident, which happened just after 6 am. She said President Thabo Mbeki also found out from the news bulletin.

Sonjica said during a visit to the Elandsrand mine at Carletonville - a town in South Africa's mining heartland near Johannesburg - that health and safety legislation would be "tightened up."

Last year, 199 mineworkers died in accidents, mostly rock falls, the government Mine Health and Safety Council reported in September. One worker was killed last week in a mine adjacent to Elandsrand.

"We have to recommit ourselves to refocus on safety in this country; our safety record both as a company and an industry leave much to be desired," Harmony Gold Mining Co chairman Patrice Motsepe said according to the South African Press Association, as union officials accused the industry of taking short cuts on safety in the interest of profit.

The hundreds of workers who remained underground were all near a ventilation shaft and had been given water - though no food for fear of provoking a scramble among hungry miners, according to Peter Bailey, health and safety chairman for the National Mineworkers Union.

Mine general manager Stan Bierschenk said that most of the miners complained of heat exhaustion and fatigue.

Bierschenk said the company hoped to complete the rescue by lunchtime, although Bailey said this was optimistic and that late-afternoon was more realistic.

Sethiri Thibile, who was in the first batch of miners rescued about 19 hours after the accident, clutched a cold beef sandwich and a bottle of water he was given when he reached the surface.

"I was hungry, though we were all hungry," said Thibile, 32, an engineering assistant who had been underground since early Wednesday morning. He said there was no food or water in the mine.

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