Australia: One dead, 29 rescued after Ballarat gold mine collapse

One man has died and another has been seriously injured after rocks collapsed at a gold mine in Ballarat, Australia, on Thursday.

Authorities were called to the Ballarat Gold Mine, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Melbourne, on Wednesday night after reports of a rockfall.

"Two people were pinned by fallen rocks while 28 workers were able to take refuge in a safety pod," Victoria Police said in a statement.

One of the pinned miners was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition while the body of the other, a 37-year-old man, was recovered on Thursday morning.

Ronnie Hayden, the secretary of Australian Workers Union's Victoria, told reporters that the information they have is that the workers were performing a task that "was a quick, cheap and easy way to chase gold." 

The deadly accident could have been an avoidable one because they had raised concerns about that particular task that seemed to have "fallen on deaf ears," according to the union.

The site has been closed down so safety regulators can conduct their investigations, authorities said. 

'A community built on gold'

The mayor of Ballarat, a storied mining town, said the incident would "ripple through the Ballarat Gold Mine organization for days, weeks and months."

"Not just through the recovery phase, but also through the investigation into what happened," Des Hudson told the AFP news agency.

"We are a community built on gold. Gold still has a significant role to play in Ballarat." The Ballarat Gold Mine itself did not immediately comment on the incident.

The mine had caved in once before, trapping 27 miners underground in 2007. All were freed after a five-hour rescue operation.