JOHANNESBURG — At least 100 men who were mining illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa have died after being trapped deep underground for months while police tried to get them out, a group representing the miners said Monday.
Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action Group told The Associated Press that a cellphone sent to the surface with some rescued miners on Friday had two videos on it showing dozens of bodies underground wrapped in plastic.
Mnguni said “a minimum” of 100 men had died in the mine in North West province where police first launched an operation in November to force the miners out. They were suspected to have died of starvation or dehydration, Mnguni said. He said 18 bodies have been brought out since Friday.
Nine of those bodies were recovered in a community-led operation on Friday, he said. Another nine were brought out in an official operation by authorities on Monday, when 26 survivors were also rescued, Mnguni said.
Police spokesperson Brig. Sebata Mokgwabone said they were still verifying information on how many bodies had been recovered and how many survivors brought out after starting a new rescue operation on Monday.
Illegal mining is common in parts of South Africa where companies close down mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to illegally enter them to try and find leftover deposits.
The videos sent up to the surface on the cellphone and released publicly by Mnguni’s group show dozens of what appear to be dead bodies wrapped in plastic lying in darkened tunnels underground. Emaciated men were seen sitting near them.
The mine has been the scene of a standoff between police and miners since authorities first attempted to force the miners out and seal the mine two months ago. Police said the miners were refusing to come out for fear of arrest, but Mnguni said they had been left trapped underground after police removed the ropes they used to climb out of the mine.
Police also cut off the miners’ food supplies in an attempt to force them out. Large groups of illegal miners often go underground for months to maximize their profits, taking food, water, generators and other equipment with them, but also relying on others in their group at the surface to send down more supplies.
Police have said they are uncertain exactly how many illegal miners remain underground at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine near the northern town of Stilfontein, but it’s likely to be hundreds.
Mnguni said that at least 500 miners remained underground in different places in the mine, which is one of the deepest in South Africa at 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep and has multiple shafts, many levels and is a maze of tunnels, he said. He said a preliminary autopsy report on a body that was previously brought out of the mine showed the man had died of starvation.
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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
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