Hello everyone and welcome back to Scary Interesting and to another edition of some of the worst disasters in history.

The disasters in this series seem to come in two varieties.

There are those that are unavoidable, unprecedented natural disasters, and then there are those that are frustratingly entirely preventable if not for the people involved.

This is going to be one that is extremely frustrating.

As always, viewer discretion is advised.

In the summer of 2010, 33 Chilean miners became worldwide sensations while trapped in a tiny cavern 2,300 feet

or 700 meters below the Earth's surface.

During a subsequent 70-day rescue operation, volunteers from around the world arrived to help.

Ironically, one of the most experienced and well-respected of these groups was from South Africa.

Then, in March of 2016, three miners disappeared into a giant

sinkhole over the deepest part of the Lilly Mine in South Africa. Unlike their Chilean

counterparts, the three employees were trapped just 230 feet or 70 meters below the ground.

But even so, their rescue would encounter much more difficulty. According to statistics, about 15,000 miners die around the world annually,

but the actual number may be far higher because accidents often go unreported in less developed countries.

Mine-related deaths have been declining in recent years, but mining is an inherently dangerous business,

particularly in places where

oversight and regulation are lax.

In 2022, mining employed nearly 500,000 South Africans and made up about 8% of the country's

GDP.

However, miners and their families claim that safety often takes a backseat to expediency

and profit.

As is often the case, most of the lily mine

...