South African authorities have detected “movement” underground at a shuttered gold mine where they believe at least 31 illegal miners died in a suspected gas explosion last month, raising the very slim possibility that there may be survivors.
A street vendor selling oranges at a taxi rank in Welkom, South Africa, Friday, June 23, 2023. At least 31 people were believed to have died in a gas explosion in a disused mine shaft in the city of Welkom that happened last month but was only now coming to light, authorities said Friday. last month, raising the very slim possibility that there may be survivors, officials said.
“As it stands now it’s rather difficult,” Department of Mineral Resources and Energy spokesperson Nathi Shabangu told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Fatal accidents involving illegal miners often go unreported in South Africa because any survivors are reluctant to contact authorities as they might be arrested. The incident at the Welkom mine was also complicated by the fact that the illegal miners are from the neighboring country of Lesotho, and it took weeks for their families to report them missing to Lesotho authorities and for those authorities to contact their South African counterparts.
A spokesperson for the company that previously operated the mine, Harmony Gold, said Monday that the methane gas levels in the mine meant that “we’re currently not allowing anybody to go there." She said it was too dangerous right now for a search and rescue team to enter the mine.
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