An empirical study on the survivability of trapped miners in underground mines post-accident – a global analysis

Abstract

A significant number of fatalities in the mining industry are a result of the entrapment of miners underground post-accident. These fatalities happen when miners survive the initial event of an accident, but remain trapped or lost underground in unknown and life-threatening locations for an extended period. Consequently, if not rescued as quickly as possible, the trapped miners may succumb to their injuries and/or the lack of essential and life-sustaining necessities such as fresh air, water, food and medication. Despite their severity, specific research pertaining to the analysis of incidents involving trapped miners and the survivability of trapped miners post-accident is limited. This can be partially attributed to the incorrect reporting and categorizing of these incidents according to the initial event, although miners may survive the initial event, but later succumb to the secondary effects of being trapped underground. However, in some cases, it may be difficult to determine if the miners died from the initial event or due to being trapped underground. The trapped miner incidents tend to be more complex and challenging than typical accidents due to the lack of reliable information regarding the precise locations and the health status of the trapped miners (whether they are severely injured, still alive or deceased) post-accident. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate and analyze incidents involving trapped miners and assess the survivability of the trapped miners post-accident. This was based on the consolidation of data collected from 39 incidents involving trapped miners globally between 2006 and 2024. The dataset was validated and cross-referenced using multiple sources including peer-reviewed journal articles, official investigation reports and reputable online news publications. The data was classified by commodity, mining method, cause or initial event, area of occurrence and depth of entrapment. From the analysis, the total number of trapped miners, N = 1,324; survivors, S = 337 (25.5%); and the resulting fatalities, F = 972 (73.4%), were determined. The search and rescue (SAR) duration was an average of 14.9 days while in some cases the trapped miners were never found. The survival probability of the trapped miners post-accident was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier, Nelson-Aalen, and Life Table Estimator models. These models were used to analyze and visualize the survival probability of the trapped miners over the entrapment period.