Six more bodies have been found in an illegal gold mine in South Africa, where dozens of people are believed to have died underground since authorities tried to evict them and close the mine in November, partner network of CBS News, BBC News. Eight people were rescued alive on Tuesday and 26 were recovered on Monday, the BBC reported.
More than 100 people who illegally mined the abandoned mine are believed to have died since the crackdown began, a group representing miners told British broadcaster Sky News. Arguing that the miners had entered without permission, the crackdown involved authorities cutting off their access to food and water, the BBC reported.
Last week, a court ordered the government to facilitate a rescue operation.
CHRISTIAN VELCICH, Getty
Videos that appear to have been taken with cellphones inside the mine and brought to the surface by those rescued show what appear to be emaciated people and corpses wrapped in makeshift body bags. CBS News has not been able to independently verify the videos.
South Africa’s General Industries Workers, a union also known as “Giwusa,” released a video that CBS News could not independently verify, showing dozens of men sitting on the ground with a voice off camera saying they are hungry and need food. help.
“We are starting to show you the bodies of those who died underground,” the voice says in the video. “And that doesn’t apply to everyone… Do you see how much people are struggling? Please, we need help.”
At a press briefing on Monday, Giwusa leaders described the situation at the mine as a “massacre”, the BBC reported.
“These images show a pile of human bodies, miners who died unnecessarily,” said Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei.
South Africa’s mineral resources ministry told the BBC that Monday’s rescue operation involved lowering a cage into the mine, designed to hold six or seven people. He said the cage moved up and down the well every hour.
