( AFP ) - Rescuers began an operation Thursday to bring more than 3,200 miners to the surface more than 15 hours after they first became trapped underground in South Africa.
Around 150 had been hoisted out of the Elandsrand mine, southwest of Johannesburg, by 2:30 am (0030 GMT) but all the workers were not expected to be rescued for another 10 hours, said a spokeswoman for mine owners Harmony Gold.
"So far, 150 have been evacuated," the spokeswoman Amelia Soares told AFP at the site of the mine on the outskirts of Carletonville.
"They are all in good condition," she added.
Paramedics had been sent down to check on the other miners, who were trapped at level 73 of the mine, some 2,200 metres ( 7,260 feet) below the surface.
There had so far been no reports of injuries or fatalities at the mine, based to the southwest of Johannesburg, after a cable snapped on their normal lift at around 10:00 am on Wednesday.
Unions had earlier expressed fears over the safety of the workers at Elandsrand, warning that they could run short of oxygen and face suffocation.
However Soares said that there was no danger to those who remained below the surface, adding that rescuers would bring them fresh oxygen supplies.
"They will make sure that enough oxygen is sent down so there is no risk," she said.