Firefighters rush to Waihi mine following incident

  • 28/07/2016
Firefighters rush to Waihi mine following incident

A massive search operation is underway to find an unresponsive mine worker at a gold mine in the southern Coromandel.

A large underground loader rolled down a shaft at about 6:30pm on Thursday in the Correnso underground mine in Waihi and the driver is unresponsive.

Rescue teams are now making their way through the large complex in an attempt to find the worker.

A Westpac Rescue Helicopter has been called in from Auckland and firefighters are at the scene. A mine rescue specialist has also been called in.

A mine spokesperson said the search is expected to go through the night.

Police say it's being treated as an industrial accident and mining at the site has been temporarily halted.

In 2012, 28 miners were trapped in the same mine when a truck caught fire under ground. They were all safely rescued.

Newshub.