News24 reports that the decomposing bodies of nine illegal miners were found underground in the Bambanani West mine shaft in Welkom, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 12.
The nine bodies were found on Sunday afternoon with name tags on them, and three were found on Tuesday. The deceased are believed to be from Lesotho. "We are still monitoring the situation and working together with mine security and crime intelligence has also been engaged to closely monitor," said Captain Stephen Thakeng of the SA Police Service (SAPS). An inquest docket has been opened. Between April and May, police recovered the bodies of 11 illegal miners in Harmony Gold's Eland shaft in Welkom.
- A short report by Jeanette Chabalala is at News24
- See too, Nine more bodies of illegal miners retrieved at Harmony Gold, at SABC News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page