Fourteen suspected illegal miners have died after a mine dump site collapsed in South Africa, while eight others were injured and police continued searching for an unknown number of people who could still be trapped beneath the rubble.
The collapse happened on Monday night at a site legally operated by a mining company. Police have since opened an investigation into the incident, with questions still surrounding how the miners gained access to the area.
Most of those involved are believed to be from neighbouring Lesotho. Police said all the suspected illegal miners were undocumented foreign nationals.
Regional police chief Lt-Gen Arthur Adams visited the scene on Tuesday morning as rescue and recovery efforts continued. He said the site was being used by a local company to mine platinum and other metals.
Adams told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that the miners were working at the dump site when its walls gave way.
“The walls of the dumping site... caved in on them [the zama zamas],” he said.
The term zama zamas is commonly used in South Africa to describe illegal miners. It comes from a Zulu expression meaning “those who try their luck”.
Police said three of the injured miners have already been discharged from hospital and taken into custody. Adams said they are expected to face charges related to illegal mining and trespassing.
He added that the authorities were still trying to establish whether more miners remained beneath the collapsed material.
“As it stands, the excavation operations have ceased,” Adams said.
Illegal mining remains a common problem in South Africa, particularly around abandoned mine shafts and other sites where people search for valuable minerals. The activity has attracted many desperate workers who hope to earn a living by recovering deposits left behind after formal mining operations become less profitable.
Deaths and injuries among illegal miners have been reported before, especially at disused mining sites.
In January last year, 78 bodies were recovered from a disused mine shaft in Stilfontein, south-west of Johannesburg. The miners had been trapped underground during a nationwide police operation targeting illegal mining at abandoned sites.
The operation came as South Africa's mining industry continued to shrink after decades in which it played a major role in the country's economy. With some locations no longer considered profitable for large mining companies, abandoned sites have become a target for people hoping to find remaining mineral deposits.
The latest collapse has again highlighted the dangers faced by zama zamas, many of whom enter restricted or abandoned mining areas in search of minerals despite the risks involved.