Operation under way to rescue trapped miners from South African gold mine

The Mining Affected Communities United in Action group says at least 400 men remain trapped in the abandoned mine, where many are believed to have died.

Rescuers have hoisted illegal miners and several bodies from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, where reports emerge that hundreds may be trapped and at least 100 may have already died.

A professional mine rescue company sent a large cage into the mine shaft near Stilfontein, about 140km (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, on Monday.

“We can confirm to you that the machine is working. It has brought up seven people,” Mzukisi Jam, of the South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO), told reporters at the mine.

At least four bodies were also retrieved, according to community leader Johannes Qankase.

Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) group, said that a mobile phone sent to the surface with some rescued miners on Friday had two videos on it showing dozens of bodies underground wrapped in plastic.

Mnguni said “a minimum” of 100 men had died in the mine where police first launched an operation in November to force the miners out of the illegal operation. The miners are suspected to have starved to death or died of dehydration, Mnguni said.

Nine bodies were recovered in a community-led operation on Friday, he said. Another nine were recovered in an official rescue operation by authorities on Monday, when 26 survivors were also brought out, Mnguni said.

South African Police Service spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone said they were still verifying information on how many bodies had been recovered and how many survivors were brought out after starting a new rescue operation.

Authorities now hope to bring all of the survivors out of the mine.

The mine has been the scene of a standoff between police and miners since authorities first attempted to get the men out and seal the mine two months ago.

Police said the miners were refusing to come out of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine for fear of arrest, but MACUA’s Mnguni said they had been left trapped underground after police removed ropes and a pulley system the miners had used to climb into and out of the mine.

“The shaft is 2km (1.2 miles) deep. It’s impossible for people to climb up,” MACUA’s Magnificent Mndebele said.

South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that the company leading the rescue effort had designed a special cage that could be lowered up to 3km (1.8 miles) into the mine shaft and the rescue operation – if all goes to plan – would last 16 days.

MACUA won a court case in December that ordered police and provincial authorities to allow food, water and medicine to be sent down to the miners.

Illegal mining is common in parts of gold-rich South Africa, where companies close down mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to illegally enter them to try and find leftover deposits.

Large groups of illegal miners often go underground for months to maximise profits, taking food, water, power generators and other equipment with them, but also relying on others on the surface to send down more supplies.

Police have said they are uncertain exactly how many illegal miners remain underground, but say it is likely to be hundreds.

South African authorities have long tried to crack down on illegal mining gangs, which are known as “zama zamas” – which means “hustlers” in the Zulu language – and have a reputation for being violent, often armed and part of criminal syndicates.

MACUA’s Mnguni said this particular group of trapped miners were not criminals but former mine employees who had been put out of work when mines closed, and were left desperate.

“The miners go back to the mine because they live in poverty,” he said.