"It took 12 seconds for Lily Mine to close its doors."

Lily Mine geologist Michael Begg revealed this during an inspection in loco on Wednesday.

Magistrate Annemarie van der Merwe led the inspection to see what could have led to the fatal incident that left Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda trapped underground after the container they were working in was swallowed by a sinkhole.

Begg said the collapse of a shipping container used as a lamp room happened within 12 seconds.

He battled to hold back the tears as he narrated the 5 February 2016 incident.

"Soon after the tragic incident, the mine was closed," Begg said.

"On a normal day, workers would arrive, grab their lamps and go underground. Mine captain and management would then hold their daily meetings. On that day, 76 workers went underground. Probably 47 minutes later, some mine managers followed them.

"I was at the head office when I heard that there is a major accident at the mine. I drove here before the dust settled. We were intimately involved with the rescue of the 76 trapped miners, which was difficult," Begg said.

The shipping container sunk with the miners' work cards, stored before they headed underground.

TRAPPED
"The substation also went underground. Darkness hovered over the place. There was no ventilation for the trapped 76 miners underground. The following five of six hours were intense. We were working out who was underground because the lamp room that had their identity cards had disappeared.

"We managed to make contact with one of our senior staff underground. He managed to bring all 76 workers to the refuge bay. We later realised that we had lost three of our workers," Begg said, wiping tears from his face.

The mine remained closed, and the container was not visible from the point where officials were standing.

Some trees and other plants were growing, making it difficult for the naked eye to see the container.

All that was sighted were offices, a water pipe leading to where the container had sunk, and other mining equipment and blue beacons remained standing.

Inside and outside the shaft, security guards armed with machine-guns and pistols are manning the place.

This follows revelations by the gold mine’s lawyer Andre Bezuidenhout that illegal mining activities were active at the mine before and after the tragedy.

Begg also pointed out to ditches used by illegal miners to extract the precious ore underground.

"In terms of the collapses, the idea was to go underground to pull out the material. The more we pulled the material, the ground would continue to fail. The second or third day later, we had a large fall which left us worried.

"We then made a decision not to carry on (with the rescue). We started monitoring all cracks that were starting to form," Begg added.

The inquest hearing into the tragic incident continues in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court.