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Twelve people who had been trapped 1,000 feet below ground for hours were rescued at a historic gold mine in Colorado on Thursday evening after an equipment malfunction during a tour left one person dead, authorities said.
Just before 8 pm local time, Jason Mikesell, the Teller County sheriff, announced that all 12 people had been safely rescued using the elevator. No additional injuries or fatalities were reported.
Engineers checked and tested the elevator to make sure it was safe before using it in the rescue mission, Mikesell said.
"They all came up very safely, four at time, so we could get them through the surface," Mikesell said of the 12 people who were rescued late Thursday night. "They're all in good spirits."
The rescue caps off a multi-hour ordeal that began at around noon local time, when the Teller County Sheriff's Office received a report that an elevator transporting visitors at Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near Cripple Creek had malfunctioned and stopped at the midway point, Mikesell said.
It is unclear exactly what failed within the elevator trolley or whether the people who were on the elevator at the time were going down into the mine or coming up from a tour, Mikesell said. Officials believe the fatality was related to the mechanical malfunction. Four other people had minor injuries, including back and neck pain.
Earlier in the day, 11 other people, including two children, who were in the elevator were rescued, Mikesell said. Authorities recovered the remains of the deceased victim during the initial rescue, he said.
Mikesell declined to identify the victim.
Authorities said that the mine itself did not collapse.
Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado credited the various state and local agencies involved in the rescue efforts.
Polis offered "our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the individual lost in this incident."
The 12 people at the bottom of the mine were aware of the elevator problem while trapped but did not know the extent of the issue, Mikesell said. They had chairs, blankets and water, and were communicating with the authorities using radios. A tour guide who authorities said was a member of the family who owns the mine and is an experienced former mine rescue worker was among those trapped at the bottom.
Because the elevator was at the surface after the first rescue earlier in the day Thursday, engineers were able to check the cables and housings for any issues, along with checking for any debris that might be underneath the elevator. Crews then tested the elevator by safely lowering it and lifting it back up without any passengers inside, Mikesell said.
"Then we decided on a plan to go ahead and do that, to bring them back up," Mikesell said.
He said the 12 people brought to safety were "shocked" to learn there was national media buzz around their rescue. They had pizza when they got back to the surface, he said.
The elevator was shut down after the rescue, Mikesell said. The mine was scheduled to close down for the season Sunday.
The last time a similar episode occurred was in 1986, Mikesell said. He did not elaborate.
Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine stopped operating as a working mine in 1961 but has become a tourist attraction, where miners guide visitors on tours 1,000 feet below the Earth's surface, according to its website. Visitors can see "exposed gold veins in their natural state," the website says.
The mine was named after Mollie Kathleen Gortner, who became the first woman in the Cripple Creek Gold Camp to strike gold, in 1891.
Cripple Creek, a town of about 1,100 people, is about 20 miles southwest of Colorado Springs.