Johannesburg - Up to twenty illegal miners were suspected killed after a rock fall at an abandoned mine in South Africa, a union said on Thursday.
There have been growing fears for the safety of unlicensed miners still working in abandoned shafts in Africa's biggest economy.
“One illegal miner was seriously injured and, according to him, 20 killed in a rock fall as a result of illegal mining activities in a mine located between the Grootvlei and the Gravelotte mines on the East Rand,” the Solidarity union said in a statement.
The Grootvlei site is currently looked after by liquidators. The site had been temporarily managed by a firm run by relatives of President Jacob Zuma and former president Nelson Mandela.
South Africa, which has the world's deepest gold mines, has a dire safety record compared with its peers in the industrialised world.
In 2010, four suspected illegal miners were shot dead underground at Grootvlei.
“These mines are turning into 'shafts of death',” said Solidarity deputy general secretary Gideon du Plessis.
“Until the assets are finally sold off, no one is going to take full responsibility to stop illegal mining activities at the mines, to secure the mine shafts adequately and to get them into operation again.”
A spokeswoman for the department of mineral resources confirmed that an incident at Grootvlei had taken place, but declined to confirm the number of fatalities. A government mines inspector said that at least two people had been found dead.
Police said it was too early to confirm the number of dead. - Reuters