One person has died and 23 others have been rescued after an elevator malfunction at a disused Colorado gold mine.
Two groups of 12 people were touring Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, a privately-owned tourist attraction, when the failure occurred on Thursday, leaving one group stuck below ground for six hours.
In the first group, one person died while the remaining 11 tourists, including two children, were rescued from the mine, four of them with minor injuries.
The second group of 12 were stranded in a tunnel at the bottom of the mine but all were returned to safety later in the day.
The hour-long tour takes visitors 1,000ft (305m) down the shaft into the south-west side of Pikes Peak, according to the tour company’s website.
Officials say the lift descending into the gold mine had a mechanical issue around 500ft beneath the surface, creating a “severe danger for the participants”.
“We did have one fatality that occurred during this issue at 500ft,” Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said earlier. He did not give details.
“There is an elevator issue to resolve before they could be brought up,” Sheriff Mikesell told reporters.
Rescue teams used radio to communicate with the 12 others