Months after efforts began to evacuate people working at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, rescuers pulled 36 bodies and 82 survivors from the mine after two days of operations, police said Tuesday.
“The 82 people arrested face charges of illegal mining, trespassing and violating immigration law,” Police Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said in a statement.
Police don’t know exactly how many miners remain inside the illegal mine, but they estimate there are likely hundreds. Miners, many from neighboring countries, entered the shaft near Stilfontein, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, the shaft that was once part of South Africa’s mining industry, in the hope of finding remains of gold.
Since mine emptying operations began in August, 1,576 people have left the shaft, according to the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. Authorities had for months cut off access to food and water from the surface to force miners to leave, but a court order in November ended those restrictions.
Rescue operations continue
Rescue operations involving a metal cage lowered into the mine shaft to recover men and bodies more than 2 kilometers underground will continue for several days, police said.
Illegal mining usually takes place at mines after companies abandon them because large-scale operations are no longer viable.
Some of the deepest mines in the world
Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe visited the site on Tuesday and said it is not the miners who are profiting from the illegal gold trade.
“These infantrymen are entrusting this gold to someone. This someone must take responsibility for it,” he said. “Those who make money from gold mining must take full responsibility for the risk taken.”
South Africa has some of the world’s deepest gold mines, some reaching miles underground, according to the Minerals Council South Africa.
sms/ftm (AP, AFP, Reuters)
