An operation to rescue trapped miners from a South African gold mine is underway Mining news
The mining group United in Action says at least 400 men are trapped in the abandoned mine, where many are believed to have died.
Rescuers raised illegal miners and several bodies from the abandoned gold mine in South Africawhere reports are emerging that hundreds may be trapped and at least 100 may already have died.
A professional mine rescue company sent a large cage into a mine shaft near Stilfontein, about 140 km (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, on Monday.
“We can confirm that the machine is working. It raised seven people,” Mzukisi Jam of the South African National Civic Organization (SANCO) told reporters at the mine.
At least four bodies were also recovered, according to community leader Johannes Qankase.
Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United (MACUA) group, said a mobile phone sent to the surface with some rescued miners on Friday contained two videos showing dozens of bodies underground wrapped in plastic.
Mnguni said “at least” 100 men had died at the mine where police first launched an operation in November to flush miners out of the illegal operation. The miners are suspected to have died of starvation or dehydration, Mnguni said.
Nine bodies were recovered on Friday in a community-led operation, he said. Another nine were found in an official rescue operation by authorities on Monday, when 26 survivors were also pulled out, Mnguni said.
South African Police Service spokesman Sabata Mokgwabone said they were still verifying information on how many bodies had been recovered and how many survivors had been recovered after launching a new rescue operation.
The authorities are now hoping to get all the survivors out of the mine.
The mine has been the scene of clashes between police and miners since authorities first tried to extract the men and seal the mine two months ago.
Police said the miners refused to exit the Buffelsfontein gold mine for fear of arrest, but MACUA’s Mnguni said they were trapped underground after police removed the ropes and pulley system the miners used to climb into and out of the mine from him.
“The opening is 2 km (1.2 miles) deep. It is impossible for people to climb up,” said Magnificent Mndebele of MACUA.
South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that the company leading the rescue operation has designed a special cage that can be lowered up to 3 km (1.8 miles) into the mine shaft, and the rescue operation – if all goes according to plan – will take 16 days.
In December, MACUA won a court case ordering police and provincial authorities to allow food, water and medicine to be sent to the miners.
Illegal mining is common in parts of gold-rich South Africa, where companies close mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to illegally enter them to try to find residual deposits.
Large groups of illegal miners often go underground for months at a time to maximize profits, bringing with them food, water, power generators and other equipment, but also relying on others on the surface to send more supplies.
Police said they are not sure exactly how many illegal miners remain underground, but say it is likely to be in the hundreds.
South African authorities have long struggled to crack down on illegal mining gangs, which are known as “zama zamas” – meaning “crooks” in the Zulu language – and have a reputation for being violent, often armed and part of criminal syndicates.
MACUA’s Mnguni said this group of trapped miners were not criminals but former mine workers who had lost their jobs after the mine closed and were desperate.
“Miners return to the mine because they live in poverty,” he said.