5 illegal miners killed in South Africa

Five illegal miners have been killed in an underground blast at the Klipwal Mine in KwaZulu-Natala Province, the company confirmed on Sunday.

Four of the miners were killed instantly and another later succumbed to his injuries, a company statement said.

Three people were arrested for being involved in illegal mining operations and eight others escaped, according to the statement.

The company said they received a report on Friday from police about an accident, following which mine management dispatched a team underground to verify if this had occurred.

Despite an extensive search and rescue operation, five illegal miners have lost their lives in a blast, the statement said.

It said the area where the illegal operations were carried out has collapsed completely, and the rescue team were forced to evacuate the area due to ongoing hanging wall collapses.

The accident highlights the seriousness of illegal mining in South Africa. An intensified crackdown has failed to curb the scourge.

In September last year, 11 illegal miners were killed by an explosion underground in an abandoned gold mine in Benoni near Johannesburg.

The South African Chamber of Mines estimates that illegal mining costs South Africa 5.6 billion rand (about 386 million U.S. dollars) in lost revenue every year.

Source: XINHUA