JOHANNESBURG January 9th (XINHUA) – Eight miners operating in a clandestine excavation lost their lives after being trapped underground by a cave-in on Friday in Burgersfort, Limpopo province, in South Africa’s far north, South African police announced on Sunday.
The illegal miners were looking for chrome in the village of Ga-Maroga when heavy rain caused a landslide, blocking the only access point to their gallery and causing them to suffocate, police said. The miners who died include a South African, three Mozambicans and four Zimbabweans, according to police. “We have set up a task force to fight against illegal mining activities in the province, especially in the areas along the R37 road, in Sekhukhune district. Many illegal miners have already been arrested, and their mining equipment was confiscated,” provincial police commissioner Thembi Hadebe said.