Horrific death for illegal miners
At least seven illegal miners lost their lives in a shaft near the Aurora mine, in Brakpan, after they were held hostage underground, allegedly at the hands of a gang of rival miners.
The horrific events have been unfolding since Thursday, last week, and were only brought to the attention of the SAPS when one of the miners, who managed to escape, alerted them on Sunday.
According to information, a group of illegal miners had been held hostage by a gang of armed men since the Thursday evening.
They were apparently held at gunpoint and were terrorised by the gang, who forced them to collect bags of rocks.
The gang fled on Sunday and one of the miners managed to get out of the shaft and alert the SAPS.
Members of various rescue teams worked furiously on Sunday, to bring 11 injured miners to the surface.
The majority of these were transported to nearby hospitals, while four were arrested on charges of illegal mining.
These four were due to appear in the Brakpan Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
One more miner, with severe injuries to his leg, was rescued on Monday afternoon and transported to a hospital.
Members of Mines Rescue Services joined the rescue operation on Monday afternoon, to retrieve the bodies of miners who died at the hands of the gang who held them hostage.
According to the spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Emergency Management Services (EMS), Roggers Mamaila, seven bodies were brought to the surface during the course of Monday evening.
“Six bodies were found in Shaft Seven and one in Shaft 11,” said Mamaila.
These shafts had been closed, but the illegal miners in the area had opened them.
A crowd of people gathered at the scene on Monday afternoon and watched silently as the rescue teams made preparations to enter the deep and dangerous shafts.
The first two bodies were brought to the surface at about 7.50pm.
Illegal miners put themselves at risk on a daily basis to enter unused and unstable mine shafts to try to make a living. There are many of these on the East Rand.
The miners operate under extreme dangerous conditions and often do not even wear protective hats or shoes.
Some of these miners will stay underground for weeks at a time, making use of runners on the outside to leave food for them at the openings.
The injured miners who are recovering in hospital also face charges of illegal mining.
At the time of going to press rescue workers were still on the scene and the possibility of more deaths had not been ruled out.
