Over 160 miners survived for more than a day trapped in a mile-deep South African gold mine, CNN.com reported.
Six of the 167 trapped miners were hospitalized for smoke inhalation following their rescue Sunday from the Blyvoor No. 5 mine owned by Drdgold. All six were released, according to CNN.com.
The workers were trapped in the mine after lightning struck the mine's electrical transformer Saturday night, cutting power to the shaft and causing an underground fire, according to Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers.
The miners maintained telephone contact with the company during the incident and had plenty of air and water, Drdgold spokesman James Duncan said in a posting on the company's Web site
-C.R.
