Just days before a popular Colorado tourist attraction closed for the season, an unimaginable elevator malfunction left one dead and several others horrified.
In the wake of the scarring incident, which occurred at the Mollie Kathleen gold mine near Cripple Creek, one of the visitors trapped underground said the group “never panicked” as the first engineers rushed to rescue them.
“It was uncomfortable, but we were never panicked or afraid, at least no one visibly said, ‘Are we ever going to get out of here?’ or ‘can we get out of that kind of thing?'” Rhonda Pulse said. KKTV.
Pulse was part of a second group of 12 people who were trapped nearly 1,000 feet underground for six hours as a result of an earlier elevator error.
Emergency services are working to free tourists trapped at the site of a mining accident in Cripple Creek on Thursday.
Here first responders are seen working the scene after the incident Thursday afternoon.
‘We had problems. We were uncomfortable, but we weren’t. We were blissfully unaware. It made us hungry. We’re a little cold,’ he said.
He added that the group was “very grateful” for the response from first responders.
Finally, the dozen visitors were hoisted in groups of four over a 30-minute period.
The Pulse group was the victim of an earlier malfunction that left one man dead and four others with minor injuries when the elevator carrying 11 people experienced a mechanical problem about 500 feet below the surface.
The elevator was still working and those on board were brought to the surface in about 20 minutes, according to Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell.
The identity of the lone death has since been revealed as 46-year-old tour guide and father of one, Patrick Weier. The gold mine tour guide is said to have been working during the “very tragic accident.”
On Thursday night, officials managed to repair the elevator system and bring those left inside the mine to the surface.
An elevator door broke when they were boarding it and the cause of the malfunction is unknown, Mikesell added.
The identity of the lone death has since been revealed as 46-year-old tour guide and father of one, Patrick Weier.
The gold mine tour guide was said to be working during Thursday’s “very tragic accident.”
The exact cause of Weier’s death was not immediately revealed, but authorities said they believed it was related to the elevator failure and not a suspected medical episode.
The father, who left behind a 7-year-old son, is said to have been aboard the elevator when he experienced the mechanical problem.
The elevator accident remains under investigation by state and local authorities, as well as the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The mine will remain closed until further notice.
