Electricity has been restored to a lift in a gold mine in South Africa where an outage trapped about 1,000 miners underground for almost two days.

This rescue operation is going on at the 23-level Beatrix mine in the Free State, about 290 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg.  The mine is owned by Sibanye-Stillwater, the country's largest gold producer.  It's believed the power was knocked out by a powerful storm in the area on Wednesday night.

The miners are getting medical checks, food, and showers as they come out of the 1,000-meter hole.  Several ambulances were standing by.  The company said there was "no indication so far that anyone has been in distress".

But Union officials feared for the safety of the men and are demanding an investigation:  "We're worried and we'll make sure as the union that we leave no stone unturned during the investigation of this incident," said Livhuwani Mammburu of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).