Efforts to rescue more than 500 workers trapped in one of South Africa’s deepest mines continued Tuesday, Jan. 14. More than 100 miners reportedly died from dehydration and starvation so far.
The workers have been inside the mile-and-a-half deep mine just southwest of Johannesburg for months, with some miners being underground as far back as July or August of 2024.
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In November 2024, authorities tried to force workers out amid a tense standoff with police, locals and the miners.
Law enforcement said the miners could come out but refused to. However, human rights groups disputed that notion. The groups accused authorities of cutting off food and water supplies to the workers to force them out of the mine.
Activists said many of the miners are dying of starvation or unable to climb out because the mine is too steep and the pulley system was removed.
At least 18 bodies have been retrieved from the mine and 26 survivors have been rescued, officials said.
Illegal mining is reportedly rampant in parts of South Africa where gold is abundant. Many people enter closed down mines for months in search of leftover gold deposits.
A South African cabinet minister said in November that the government would not help illegal miners because it considered them criminals.
Instead, the government suggested authorities “smoke them out.”
