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Death Toll Hits 87 as South African Police Wrap Up Rescue Efforts at Gold Mine

At least 87 miners have died in South Africa’s illegal gold mine disaster, with over 240 survivors rescued.

The death toll from a prolonged standoff between South African police and illegal miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine has risen to at least 87, authorities confirmed on Thursday. 

This comes as the rescue operation successfully freed over 240 survivors from the depths of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine. National police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, revealed that 78 bodies were retrieved during the official rescue operation, which began on Monday, while a further nine had been recovered earlier. Details regarding the recovery of these additional bodies remain unclear.

Local community groups reportedly initiated their own rescue efforts after the authorities declared last year that they would not assist the miners, deeming them “criminals.” The miners are believed to have perished from starvation and dehydration, although the exact causes of death have not been officially disclosed.

The South African authorities have faced severe criticism for their handling of the situation. Last year, they had cut off food and supplies in an attempt to force the miners out of the Buffelsfontein mine. One cabinet minister had referred to this as an effort to “smoke them out,” a tactic that has been widely condemned, including by one of South Africa’s largest trade unions, who described it as “horrific.”

Both police and mine owners are also accused of confiscating ropes and dismantling a pulley system used by the miners to access the mine and receive supplies. A court ruling last year mandated the delivery of food and water to the miners, while another recent court decision compelled the government to launch an official rescue mission.

The unfolding disaster had been evident for weeks, with community members intermittently retrieving decomposing bodies from the mine, some of which carried notes pleading for food. Johannes Qankase, a local community leader, criticised the delayed response, stating, “If the police had acted earlier, we would not be in this situation, with bodies piling up. It is a disgrace for a constitutional democracy like ours. Somebody needs to account for what has happened here.”

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s second-largest political party, which is part of the governing coalition, has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to initiate an independent inquiry into the incident, questioning why the situation escalated so drastically.

Authorities now estimate that nearly 2,000 illegal miners had been working underground at the mine, located near Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, since August. Over the past months, many miners have emerged from the mine on their own, and all survivors have been arrested, though several appeared severely malnourished.

Mathe confirmed that at least 13 children had been among those rescued before the official operation commenced. On Wednesday, police declared the rescue mission concluded, asserting that no further miners were underground, although a camera will be lowered into the mine on Thursday to ensure the area is clear.

The Buffelsfontein mine, one of the deepest in South Africa, is a complex network of tunnels and shafts, with miners working up to 2.5 kilometres underground in various groups. Police have maintained that miners could have exited through different shafts but chose not to for fear of arrest, a claim disputed by miner representatives who argue that many were trapped in appalling conditions with decomposing bodies surrounding them.

Frances Ibiefo

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