At least 78 dead in abandoned gold mine in South Africa, scene of standoff

STILFONTEIN, South Africa — Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine, where they had languished for more than two months during a clash with authorities who demanded they go to the police because they were operating illegally.

Hundreds of people are still trapped Wednesday and the death toll is expected to rise following a disaster that has focused criticism on the South African government’s decision to try to “smoke them out” by cutting them off for a while food and other supplies. Civic groups say authorities also removed ropes and pulley systems that miners used to enter and exit at least one shaft and to lower supplies.

The groups say the government’s refusal to mount a rescue operation for weeks effectively left many miners to die of starvation or dehydration. A rescue is currently underway – after a court ruling – but only a few minors can be arrested at a time, and the operation could take 10 days.

South African authorities argued that miners could always exit through another shaft at the Buffelsfontein gold mine, one of the deepest in the mineral-rich country.

But activists said it would involve a dangerous trek underground that could take days for some, and many have become too weak or sick after months underground with little food and water. Police say some minors refused to come out.

In response to a request from a relative of one of the minors, a court last week ordered a rescue operation, which began on Monday. A company specializing in mine rescue launched a small cage thousands of meters (feet) into the mine to recover survivors and bodies. But no company personnel entered the well because they considered it too dangerous; instead, community volunteers went to the cage to help the juveniles.

Police first tried in November to force miners to leave the closed mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, by cutting off their supplies. The move, part of a broader crackdown on illegal mining, has sparked a standoff between authorities, miners and community members.

A court ruled that authorities had to allow the supplies in – but civic groups say authorities needed to do more at this point, because even without police intervention, the miners were unable to introduce enough food and water into the mine and the situation became dire. .

The mine is 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep and has several shafts, numerous levels and a maze of tunnels. A group representing the miners said there were numerous groups in various parts of the mine and estimated that more than 500 miners were underground when rescue efforts began.

It’s unclear how long they’ve been underground, but relatives say some of them have been there since July.

Police said on Wednesday that 78 bodies had been found so far and 166 survivors had been evacuated since the official rescue operation began. A community group says nine more bodies were found Friday and an unconfirmed number in previous weeks, after community members tried to rescue the miners themselves.

Civic groups representing the miners say at least 100 of them died.

The official rescue is now proceeding slowly, because only a few people can enter the cage at a time and because the well is very deep.

Authorities argued that the miners could have gotten out if they wanted – and police say more than 1,000 of them did before the rescue operation – but they didn’t done because they feared arrest. Police say they have arrested all those who surfaced before and after the rescue operation.

They will be charged with illegal mining and trespassing. Authorities seized gold, explosives, guns and more than $2 million in cash from the miners.

One of the civic groups representing the miners released two videos over the weekend showing what it says are the dire conditions underground. The videos were on a cellphone taken out of the mine by one of the miners, the group said, along with a note calling on people to watch them.

It shows dozens of what appear to be corpses lined up in a dark cavern and wrapped in plastic. They also show shirtless and emaciated miners while the man filming says they are dying and begs authorities to send them food and get them out.

Authorities are particularly criticized for their tactics last year, when they cut off food and other supplies to underground miners for a time. It was an attempt to “smoke them out”, a South African minister said, adding that authorities would not help the miners because they were “criminals”.

Rights groups condemned the plan, accusing authorities of contributing to the “massacre” at the mine, and community members also gathered at the mine holding signs criticizing the authorities.

But while anger runs high within the local community, the tragedy has not sparked strong reactions in South Africa, where illegal mining often makes headlines.

This practice is common in mines that companies have closed because they are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to scavenge for remaining deposits. South Africa has around 6,000 abandoned mines.

The South African government has taken a tough approach to these groups, known as zama zamas – meaning “hustlers” in the Zulu language – and have long been a problem for authorities. They are often armed and part of criminal syndicates, the government says, and many of them are foreigners who entered South Africa illegally from neighboring countries.

The government claims it is depriving South Africa of more than $1 billion in gold a year.

Authorities said more than 1,500 people had been arrested for illegal mining in the Stilfontein region over the past year, the vast majority of them from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.