Rock collapse might have caused Lily Mine disaster – lawyer
The pit wall was unstable and in years gone-by there has been a number a number of collapses, including where a drilling machine was lost to the bottom of the pit
MBOMBELA – The legal representative for the Lily Mine workers, families of the three still un-retrieved bodies and their labour union – Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU- are unhappy about the limited report given to them by the mine management and the Department of Mineral and Resources, over a year after the collapse incident happened.
Speaking at the Agricultural Research Council where an inquiry to determine what cause the disaster, which happened last year February 5, Mr Richard Spoor of Richard Spoor Incorporation said it was very clear that a rock collapse caused the mine to cave in.
“It is clear that the rock fell and the mine collapse and fell down. The question is why? We understand we need a lot of information. One of the pieces of the information is about the history of the collapses and falls in in this mine,” said Spoor.
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He said they know that the pit wall was unstable.
“The pit wall was unstable and in years gone-by there has been a number a number of collapses, including where a drilling machine was lost to the bottom of the pit. This information needs to come out if we are to understand what’s happened,” added Spoor.
He said they expect the inquiry to take some time before it reaches its conclusion.
“On Monday, which was the first day of the inquiry and it is going to be quite long and difficult because it involves technology about geology and engineering, including lot of difficult things. But we are not happy with the information we were given today by the mine and DMR. The information they have given to us is very limited. There are no plans, no reports, expert opinions, it is extremely limited. We hope in the next few days there would be a lot of information made available to us to make us understand what happened,” said Spoor.
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Several witnesses who were at the scene on the day of the disaster, including the mine’s senior management, were called in to present their statement during the first day.
Patrick Mhlabane, who was employed by Africa Truck contractor as a truck operator said: “At about 08:30 on February 5, 2016, I was inside a truck, leaning on the steering with my head looking down. All of a sudden, I heard a huge bang. When I looked up, I saw a huge dark smoke. Few minutes later as the dust was settling in, I realised that the lamp room was gone”.
Thambolenyoka Sithole, a dump-truck operator said he was at level-eight underground at the time of the incident. “While there, I felt a strong wind billowing. Then my dump-truck doors closed itself. I was then told that the mine had collapsed. I don’t remember what happened, then as I was dizzy,” he said.
