Just days before a popular Colorado tourist attraction was set to close for the season an unimaginable elevator malfunction left one dead and several others horrified.
In the wake of the scarring incident, set in the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, near Cripple Creek, one of the visitors trapped underground said the group ‘never panicked’ as first engineers raced to rescue them.
‘It was uncomfortable, but we were never panicked or afraid, at least no one ever visibly said, “are we ever going to get out of here?” or “can we get out type of thing?”‘ Rhonda Pulse told KKTV.
Pulse was part of a second group of 12 people that were left trapped nearly 1,000 feet underground for six hours as a result of an earlier elevator error.
Emergency responders work to release trapped tourists at the site of a mining accident in Cripple Creek on Thursday
First responders are seen here working the scene following the incident on Thursday afternoon
‘We were inconvenienced. We were uncomfortable, but we weren’t. We were blissfully unaware. We got hungry. We got kind of cold,’ she said.
She added that group was ‘so grateful’ for the response from the first responders.
The dozen visitors were eventually hoisted up in groups of four over a 30-minute period.
Pulse’s group was a casualty of an earlier malfunction that left a man dead and four others suffering from minor injuries as the elevator carrying 11 experienced a mechanical issue at about 500 feet deep.
The elevator was still working and those on board were brought back to the surface within about 20 minutes, according to Teller County Sheriff, Jason Mikesell.
The identity of the lone-death has since been revealed as 46-year-old tour guide and father-of-one, Patrick Weier. The gold mine tour guide was said to have been working during the ‘very tragic accident’
On Thursday evening officials managed to repair the elevator system and bring those left inside the mine to the surface
A door on the elevator was broken when it was raised, the cause of the malfunction remains unknown, Mikesell added.
The identity of the lone-death has since been revealed as 46-year-old tour guide and father-of-one, Patrick Weier.
The gold mine tour guide was said to have been working during the ‘very tragic accident’ on Thursday.
The exact cause of Weier’s death was not immediately revealed, but authorities said they believed it was related to the elevator’s glitch as opposed to a suspected medical episode.
The father, who left behind a 7-year-old son, was said to be on board the elevator when it experienced the mechanical issue.
The elevator accident remains under investigation by local and state authorities, as well as the US Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The mine will be closed until further notice.