At the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, Colorado, a lift experienced a failure, which resulted in the death of one individual and the rescue of twenty-three others. On Thursday, the event took place when members of the public were touring the privately owned tourist site. The lift broke down as two groups of twelve were examining the abandoned gold mine. Technical issues trapped one party underground for six hours awaiting the other.
A death occurred in the first group, stranded around 500 feet below the water’s surface. Rescue teams safely saved eleven people, including two children, from the situation. Rescue teams brought four people with minor injuries to safety. During this time, the second set of twelve individuals, trapped at the bottom of the mine in a tunnel, remained uninjured.
The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour shows gold veins in their natural state 1,000 feet underground. The mine did not collapse, but officials warned that the technical issue presented a considerable risk to tour participants. Rescuers hurried to the location and used radios to contact the stranded people. Rescuers gave stranded people chairs, blankets, and drinks to keep them warm.
While Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell acknowledged that one fatality occurred, he did not release any other information on the incident. Search and rescue teams, along with heavy equipment, responded to the incident. Governor Jared Polis felt relieved after rescue teams successfully evacuated twelve people from the mine.
The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, named after Mollie Kathleen Gortner who discovered gold there in 1891, had not experienced a major incident since 1986. Although some tourists have referred to the elevator as a cage, officials have emphasized that the cash generated from the excursions helps to maintain the mine’s safe working state.
