12 rescued from bottom of 1,000-foot-deep Colorado mine after elevator mishap kills 1

One person was killed and 12 others spent hours Thursday trapped near the bottom of a closed Colorado gold mine after an elevator malfunctioned.

The 12 people were rescued Thursday evening from the bottom of 1,000-foot-deep Molly Kathleen Mine in Cripple Creek, which closed in 1961 but now operates as a tourist site.

According to Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell, the elevator had a mechanical problem around 500 feet below the surface, creating a “severe danger for the participants.”

During the whole six-hour period, the 12 adults at the bottom were in communication with authorities via radios and had access to water, but were told only that there was an unspecified elevator issue.

As a result, according to the sheriff, they were always in good spirits. Only when they reached the surface, as authorities gave them pizza, did they learn everything that had happened, he said.

The elevator’s mechanical failure was reported to authorities around noon MDT, ABC News reported.

Sheriff Mikesell said authorities were investigating the malfunction but didn’t yet know the cause.

He declined to say who was killed or how.

While the 12 people were stuck at the bottom, 11 other people who were riding the elevator were rescued, four with minor injuries on which the sheriff declined to elaborate at an evening news conference.

The rescue teams were able to get the elevator back online after making sure the damage already done wouldn’t lead to another failure. Once they were sure, the 12 people came back up on it.

Sheriff Mikesell  said rescue teams were even prepared to use ropes if necessary, 

“We do have a plan B and a plan C already set in place with rescue officers,” he said.