Johannesburg – A body was brought out Thursday of an abandoned gold mine shaft in South Africa where hundreds of illegal miners were believed to be underground, facing arrest if they surface, police said.
Two people were also brought alive out of the mine at Stilfontein, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, police said, adding to five who surfaced on Wednesday.
Police and ambulances were at the site after a member of the surrounding community who had communicated with the clandestine miners claimed to have been told there were around 4,000 people underground.
Police believed this figure could be “far-fetched” and estimated there could be about 300 people underground, national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told reporters at the scene.
Since a police operation launched weeks ago to force miners out of the shaft, more than 1,170 people had resurfaced, she said.
“We do have a decomposed body that was brought up this afternoon. Circumstances surrounding how this illegal miner died are under investigation,” she said. It is the first body to be brought out of the mine.
The decomposed body of an illegal miner has been recovered from the Stilfontein mine in the North West province. It is understood the body of the zama zama was retrieved around just after 11am Thursday. Vid: eNCA #Stilfontein .#ZamaZamas #NorthWest @TheCitizen_News pic.twitter.com/J7LEMgogTf
— 𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚕 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕 ⚡️ (@FaizelPatel143) November 14, 2024
She said authorities wanted the miners to leave and would not go down into the shaft it believed was unsafe because of hazardous gases and information that the miners had weapons.
“We are told by intelligence that they are refusing to resurface. No one is trapped,” she said. It was unclear how long the miners had been underground.
Authorities have tried to force the miners by restricting food and water supplies that were being lowered by people in the area.
However they temporarily allowed local residents to send down water and porridge by rope so the miners could gain strength to leave the mine.
People gathered at the site also urged the men to leave the shaft.
#NewsJustin A body of one illegal miner was retrieved from an abandoned mineshaft in Stilfontein earlier. SABC News reporter Thabiso Moss is there and watching developments. For all your latest news and updates, tune in to SABC NEWS Channel 404. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/3JnXjabZYT
— SABC News (@SABCNews) November 14, 2024
“Those people must come out because we have brothers there, we have sons there, the fathers of our kids are there, our children are struggling,” local resident Emily Photsoa told AFP Wednesday.
She called for the government to intervene. But the government does not intend to help, minister of the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters Wednesday.
“Honestly, we’re not sending help to criminals, we’re going to smoke them out. They will come out,” she said, in comments that drew widespread criticism.
Thousands of illegal miners, many of them hailing from other countries, are said to operate in abandoned mine shafts in mineral-rich South Africa.
Locally known as “zama zamas” – “those who try” in the Zulu language – the miners frustrate mining companies and are accused of criminality by residents.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@Makashule
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