SPRINGS - Details have started to emerge about the first batch of mineworkers to resurface from the Gold One Modderfontein mine in Springs.
This after confirmation that several miners have started to come up from underground after an intense hostage drama.
The escalating tensions at the mine are linked to a labour dispute between warring trade unions, Amcu and NUM, over organising rights.
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While it was earlier reported that police had hatched a plan to extract the workers, it appears that the miners that have resurfaced, have in fact escaped.
It's understood that some of the 500 workers used a different tunnel to escape.
NUM regional leader, Mlulameli Mweli, said that the number of mineworkers that had resurfaced at the mine was yet to be established.
"Unfortunately, we could not confirm the number of people that escaped the hostage [situation] but they have been taken in for medical attention to see if their state of health is still good."
Mweli said that once they had been medically examined, the mineworkers would then be taken in for questioning by police.
Onlookers outside the mine perimeter have also started to gather as they wait with bated breath for some relief.
