News24 reports that one man, believed to be an illegal miner, has died after an explosion at the shuttered Gloria Coal Mine in Mpumalanga.
The police's Brigadier Leornard Hlathi said another man, also believed to be an illegal miner, had been retrieved and was well. The Middelburg Observer reported on Wednesday that a group of 22 people, believed to be Lesotho nationals, had been trapped. Some 42 people had allegedly gone underground in an attempt to steal cables, when a gas explosion occurred. On Wednesday afternoon, Hlathi indicated that the total number of illegal miners trapped underground was unclear. The police were told that one group of people went down on Sunday and another on Monday. As of Wednesday afternoon, a search-and-rescue operation was underway at the shaft. The mining operation was placed under business rescue in February 2018.
- Read Pelane Phakgadi’s short report on this story at News24
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