EWN reports that Free State police have retrieved 11 bodies from the Eland gold mine shaft in Welkom following an explosion on Thursday.  

The cause of the explosion is not yet known, but investigators are probing whether the unidentified bodies are those of illegal miners.  On Monday, police removed the bodies from a section of the shaft which is no longer operational.  The police's Thandi Mbambo indicated:  “For now we have registered a case for further investigation.  Other bodies were found with name tags which indicate who the people were.  This makes it easier for families to identify them.”

• This short report by Mia Lindeque is at EWN

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