News
Rescue workers working to free trapped miners in Benoni, South Africa. PHOTO/Mike Hutchings/Reuters
Rescue workers working to free trapped miners in Benoni, South Africa. PHOTO/Mike Hutchings/Reuters
Rescue workers in South Africa have cleared the shaft entrance of an abandoned mine and have lifted at least 11 of the estimated 200 illegal miners who had been trapped by debris in an abandoned gold shaft near Johannesburg.
Some of the victims appeared to be reluctant to emerge because of fears they would be arrested.
Some of those who came out were dehydrated but in good spirits. Earlier, rescue vehicles and equipment were brought to the site to stabilize the ground before the rescue operation began.
It is believed that they have been trapped since Saturday morning and police patrolling in the area heard their screams for help, according to reports from the South African Press Association.
Rescue teams arriving at the scene were able to speak to about 30 miners near the top of the old shaft, whose entrance was covered by a large rock, the news agency said. Those miners said as many as 200 others were trapped further down a steep tunnel at the mine in Benoni, on the outskirts of South Africa’s biggest city.
Illegal mining is common in South Africa, a major producer of gold and platinum. Workers brave unsafe conditions below ground amid reports of the involvement of organized crime and even clashes between rival groups seeking to extract precious metal from the shafts.
Illegal mining remains a serious concern, despite progress in curbing it, South Africa’s mineral resources department said in a statement. It attributed the improvement to “illegal mining forums,” in which stakeholders in the mining industry seal open shafts and seek to detain illegal miners.
