Up to 15 miners reportedly fired for performing ‘Harlem Shake’ inside Australian gold mine

PERTH, Australia – A newspaper says up to 15 miners have been fired for performing the “Harlem Shake” dance craze underground in an Australian gold mine.

The West Australian newspaper reports the miners lost their six-figure salaries over the stunt in the Agnew Gold Mine last week.

A dismissal letter cited by the paper says mine owner Barminco considered the stunt a safety issue. Barminco did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

A YouTube video shows eight miners performing the convulsive dance. A sacked worker who wouldn’t give his name told the newspaper that up to 15 people were fired, including some who watched the performance but did not participate.

Up to 4,000 videos of “Harlem Shake” variations are uploaded on the Internet daily.