More bodies found in shaft

Seven illegal miners have died and 12 have been wounded in a clash in a mine shaft in Kingsway over the weekend.

It is believed two groups of miners clashed in the shaft after a surprise attack from another group from Lesotho, known as the Russians on July 25.

Eleven illegal miners who sustained severe injuries, after being shot at by a gang known as the Russians, were trapped underground on July 25, but were rescued on July 28 and have been taken to various hospitals for treatment.

However, according to Tsakane police station’s Captain Petro Mabuza, the surviving miners are all under police guard in the hospitals and, upon their release, will be arrested and charges will be laid against them for illegal mining.

According to EMS spokesman Roggers Mamaila, the number of illegal miners who died during clashes in Shaft 7 has risen to seven.

The Mine Rescue Services retrieved seven bodies on July 29 instead of the four initially indicated.

Rescue workers had initially thought there were only four bodies underground, but had found six bodies on level two of Shaft 7 and one in Shaft 9.

“On July 30, the rescue team went back to Shaft 7 level, just to check if did not leave any bodies down there, because some families claimed their family members were still missing,” Mamaila said.

The search mission was called off indefinitely at about 5pm on Tuesday (July 30).

“This mining incident will remain unified and treated as one,” concludes Mamaila.

On July 29, the last surviving illegal miner was rescued from the Shaft 7 and taken to the Far East Rand Hospital for treatment.

As yet, none of the Russians had been arrested.

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