One killed and 12 rescued as lift fails at gold mine tourist site

One person has been killed and two dozen rescued after a lift malfunctioned at a gold mine tourist attraction in Colorado.

It happened around noon at Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek.

All 23 people who were trapped have been rescued, the sheriff’s office said.

The incident killed one person on board, but it’s not yet been revealed how they died. Four others suffered minor injuries.

A problem was reported with the elevator, which prompted the rescue attempt.

Initially, 11 people, including two children, were rescued and the remaining 12 people were stuck in a shaft at the bottom of the mine.

The group of twelve people were trapped about 300m (1,000ft) down for six hours.

The trapped group were already underground when the lift malfunctioned as it descended with another 11 visitors.

Radio communication was established with the group of 12, which included a guide, and Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said they had water, blankets and chairs.

“They’re all in good spirits. We fed them pizza. That’s what they wanted,” Mr Mikesell said during the rescue.

They weren’t told someone had died, only that there was an issue with the lift, in order to keep them calm.

Firefighters were put on standby in case the problem couldn’t be fixed.

The sheriff said on Thursday night they still didn’t know what caused the problem, but that engineers had checked the lift before sending it down to retrieve the group.

He declined to identify the person who died.

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The former mine is about 110 miles (180km) south of Denver and has been operating tours for 50 years.

It opened in the late 1800s and closed in 1961.

The ride to the bottom takes about two minutes and visitors can see veins of gold in the rock and ride an underground tram, according to the mine’s website.