At least one person is dead and others are injured after an equipment malfunction trapped nearly two dozen people underground in a Colorado tourist mine, Teller County sheriff's officials said Thursday.
All 23 people who were trapped Thursday have been rescued, the sheriff’s office said.
It is unclear how the one person died, officials said. At an evening news conference, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said the death was a result of a “tragic accident.”
Earlier Thursday, a problem was reported with the elevator at the Mollie Kathleen Mine, which prompted the incident and the ongoing rescue attempt, officials said.
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Initially, 11 people were rescued and the remaining 12 people were stuck in a shaft at the bottom of the mine. They had water and blankets and were in communication with responders, officials said.
The final rescue was made at about 7 p.m. local time, Mikesell said.
The body of the person who died was recovered in the initial rescue, and officials are working to contact their family, Mikesell said.
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It is going to take a full investigation to find out what happened, he said.
"Accidents happen when dealing with this kind of machinery," Mikesell said.
The sheriff's office said those rescued reported neck and back pain, and others said they were traumatized.
Two children were involved, officials said, but no other details about the people in the incident have been provided. It was not clear whether the children have been rescued.
The last time an incident occurred at the mine was in 1986, officials said. Nobody died in that incident, but people were trapped in the elevator then, too, Mikesell said.
Sheriff's officials earlier made it clear that the mine did not collapse and that the incident occurred as a result of an equipment malfunction.
Teller County is just over 100 miles south of Denver.
The mine was set to close Sunday for the season, according to its website.
It offers one-hour tours in which visitors can "vertically descent 100 stories into the earth" to "witness the evolution of overground mining," the website says.
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