SHOCK when a gold mine collapsed, trapping tourists underground

Saturday, October 12, 2024 – One person died and 12 were trapped when an elevator malfunctioned while tourists were visiting a former gold mine in Colorado.

The incident occurred on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

Twelve people were safely rescued Thursday evening after being trapped for hours at the bottom of a former gold mine in Colorado, authorities said.

The elevator was descending into the Mollie Kathleen gold mine near the town of Cripple Creek when it developed a mechanical failure about 500 feet below the surface, posing a “serious hazard to participants” and one person died – Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell – said at a news conference.

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

When they left, the authorities gave them pizza and told them everything that had happened. Once downstairs, the authorities only informed them that there was a problem with the elevator.

Mikesell said during an overnight briefing that authorities do not yet know what caused the outage and an investigation is ongoing. Engineers made sure the elevator was operating safely again before re-hoisting the stranded guests.

He declined to reveal the victim’s name.

Mikesell said the incident occurred during the last week of the facility’s season, before it closed for the winter.

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

According to the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, mines operating as tourist attractions in Colorado must designate a person to conduct daily inspections of the mines and transportation systems. Mikesell said he did not know the date of the last inspection.