One dead, 23 rescued from Colorado tourist mine after equipment failure – NBC 7 San Diego

At least one person is dead and others injured after an equipment failure trapped nearly two dozen people underground at a Colorado tourist mine, Teller County sheriff’s officials said Thursday.

The sheriff’s office said all 23 people who were trapped Thursday were rescued.

Authorities said it was unclear how one person died. At an evening news conference, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said the death was the result of a “tragic accident.”

Earlier Thursday, an elevator problem was reported at the Mollie Kathleen mine, prompting an incident and a sustained rescue attempt, officials said.

Initially, 11 people were saved, while the remaining 12 were stuck in the shaft at the bottom of the mine. The services said they had water and blankets with them and were in contact with rescuers.

Mikesell said the final rescue was made around 7 p.m. local time.

Mikesell said the body of a deceased person was recovered during the initial rescue and authorities are working to contact his family.

He added that a full investigation would be necessary to determine what happened.

“Accidents happen when working with this type of machinery,” Mikesell said.

The sheriff’s office said those rescued reported neck and back pain, and others said they suffered trauma.

Authorities said two children were involved in the incident, but provided no other details about the people involved. It was unclear whether the children were saved.

Officials said the last incident at the mine occurred in 1986. No one died in that accident, but it also left people trapped in the elevator, Mikesell said.

Sheriff’s officials had previously made clear that the mine did not collapse and that the incident occurred due to equipment failure.

Teller County is located just over 100 miles south of Denver.

According to its website, the mine was scheduled to close on Sunday due to the season.

It offers hour-long tours during which visitors can “vertically descend 100 stories into the earth” to “witness the evolution of above-ground mining,” according to its website.

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