One miner died and another was fighting for his life after an accident at a mine in Mount Clear, which is close to Melbourne.
The incident happened at around 5 pm on Wednesday. The mine’s union claimed that safety concerns were raised.
The body of the man who died was recovered at around 6 am on Thursday.
Another miner, who was 21, was stabilized before he was extracted from the mine at around 8:30 pm on Wednesday. He was then taken to a hospital in a critical condition.
About 30 miners were able to surface after taking refuge in a safety pod.
The incident occurred about 500 meters underground. The mine’s entrance was 3 kilometers away.
Ronnie Hayden, a representative of the union, said it was heartbreaking to see another worker die following the safety concerns raised by the mine’s employees.
According to Hayden, the two men were carrying out air legging, which involves drilling into the ground to create a tunnel.
During the operation, they got stuck on an unlevel ground, which led to the death of one of the miners.
He said the use of air legging was not approved and was an easy and cheap way to chase gold.
Benjamin Wright of WorkSafe Victoria noted that the incident still remained under investigation.