28 New Zealand miners rescued from Waihi gold mine

28 miners who were trapped in Waihi’s Trio gold mine following a fire accident have all been safely evacuated.

The miners were trapped in the gold mine on New Zealand’s North Island after a 35 tonne Komatsu truck in the mine caught fire at around 5am New Zealand time.

Rescue staff had retrieved 13 of the miners by 10:30 am, while the remaining 15 hours were forced to spend a further seven hours in the chamber, before being safely evacuated at 12pm.

According to Waihi general operations manager Glen Grindlay the men are “all in good spirits,” without none injured except for one miner, who will receive medical treatment for smoke inhalation.

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