Man who died in ‘tragic accident’ at Colorado gold mine tourist attraction is named
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A man who died at a gold mine in Colorado has been named – as investigators revealed he was a guide who worked at the tourist attraction.
Patrick Weier, a 46-year-old father-of-one, lived in Victor, a community of less than 400 people around five miles from the mine.
He was identified as officials try to understand what happened on Thursday afternoon, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reports.
The circumstances of Mr Weier’s death have not been disclosed, but Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said investigators believe it was from a mechanical issue with the lift rather than a medical episode.
Mr Weier was one of 11 people in the lift at the time, with four suffering minor injuries.
They were brought up first while a separate group of 12 tourists and a guide were trapped about 300m (1,000ft) down for six hours after the tragedy.
The trapped group were already underground when the lift carrying 11 people malfunctioned.
Mr Mikesell said the “very tragic accident” occurred as the lift was about 500ft down the 1,000-ft deep shaft at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near Cripple Creek at around noon local time.
“Currently, we don’t know exactly what happened at 500 feet to cause this,” Mr Mikesell said.
“That’s something we’re working through.”
Mr Mikesell said the lift was on its descent when the accident happened.
Some of the initial reports had the lift experiencing a “drop”, but officials don’t know if it dropped or bounced, and there was no camera to show what happened, he added.
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The mine has been a tourist attraction for 50 years. Pic: AP
Mr Mikesell said the mine had passed safety inspections but he did not have the dates during a news conference on Friday.
The lift is operated from a cab on the surface, he added.
The former mine is about 110 miles (180km) south of Denver and has been operating tours for 50 years. It opened in the late 1800s and closed in 1961.
The ride to the bottom takes about two minutes and visitors can see veins of gold in the rock and ride an underground tram, according to the mine’s website.
