Johannesburg, Jan 17 (IANS) No illegal miners remain underground after four days of a rescue operation at the abandoned Stilfontein gold mine in South Africa’s North West Province, police confirmed.
National Police Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe reaffirmed that 246 living illegal miners and 78 bodies had been retrieved from the mine since the rescue operation began Monday. A total of 1,907 illegal miners have surfaced since the launch of Operation Vala Umgodi (Close the Hole) in August last year, aimed at curbing illegal mining activities, she added.
Without providing specifics, Mathe noted that nine additional bodies had been recovered before the rescue operation, bringing the total number of deceased illegal miners to 87 since August, Xinhua news agency reported.
Speaking to the media in Stilfontein, Acting North West Police Commissioner Patrick Asaneng confirmed that no illegal miners remained at the site. “There are no longer people alive and corpses that are still underground to be extracted,” Asaneng said.
The Mine Rescue Services (MRS), which led the rescue operation, used a cage equipped with cameras to reach 2.5 km underground but found no additional survivors or bodies. Asaneng said that the MRS would provide a detailed report to law enforcement and the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources.
“It is based on that report that the government and the relevant ministers will also be addressing your good selves on what has transpired here,” Asaneng said.
Both officials noted that the police would continue monitoring the mine as part of Operation Vala Umgodi.
“In terms of our operations, we are going to continue Operation Vala Umgodi. We will leave at a time when this particular hole is closed and sealed and rehabilitated,” Mathe told reporters.
Earlier, a total of 246 survivors and 78 bodies have been brought to the ground over three days of rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, the police said.
In a statement issued at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said that 246 illegal miners had been retrieved alive from underground and had been arrested since the rescue operation commenced on Monday at the Stilfontein mine in the North West Province.
–IANS
int/rs
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
