(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-04 19:06

CARLETONVILLE, South Africa - More than 1,700 trapped gold miners were rescued during a dramatic all-night operation and efforts gathered speed Thursday to bring hundreds more terrified and exhausted workers to the surface.

A rescued female mine worker leads colleagues as they leave a second smaller cage in another shaft at Harmony Gold's Elandsrand Mine in Carletonville, south west of Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. [Agencies]

The mine owner and South Africa's minerals and energy minister vowed to improve safety in one of the country's most important industries after more than 3,000 of the miners were trapped when a pressurized air pipe snapped Wednesday and tumbled down a shaft, badly damaging an elevator.

"We have to recommit ourselves to refocus on safety in this country; our safety record both as a company and an industry leave much to be desired," Harmony Gold Mining Co. chairman Patrice Motsepe said according to the South African Press Association, as union officials accused the industry of taking short cuts on safety in the interest of profit.

There were no casualties. The hundreds of workers who remained underground were all near a ventilation shaft and had been given water - though no food for fear of provoking a scramble among hungry miners, according to Peter Bailey, health and safety chairman for the National Mineworkers Union.

Mine general manager Stan Bierschenk said that most of the miners complained of heat exhaustion and fatigue.

Bierschenk said the company hoped to complete the rescue by lunchtime, although Bailey said this was optimistic and that late-afternoon was more realistic.

Sethiri Thibile, who was in the first batch of miners rescued about 19 hours after the accident, clutched a cold beef sandwich and a bottle of water he was given when he reached the surface.

"I was hungry, though we were all hungry," said Thibile, 32, an engineering assistant who had been underground since early Wednesday morning. He said there was no food or water in the mine.

"Most of the people are scared and we also have some women miners there underground," said Thibile.

Rescued miners emerged from the shaft with their faces etched with dust and the lamps on their hardhats still lit. "We are still all right. I am a bit relieved but very, very hungry," miner Jerry Lepolese said after.

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