Following a siege in a crackdown on illegal mining, South African officials have removed at least 60 dead from the shaft of a shuttered gold mine more than 1.2 miles below, where an undetermined number of men are still thought to be trapped.
In an effort to drive the miners to the surface for arrest, the siege, which started in August at the mine in the town of Stilfontein, some 90 miles from Johannesburg, cut off food and water supplies for months.
In an operation that is anticipated to last for days, authorities started removing men and bodies from the shaft on Monday using a metal cage.
The number of persons still inside is unknown, South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu informed broadcaster eNCA. We’re concentrating on helping them get there.
“When every underground miner went there, no one was counting,” he added, adding that it was hard to predict when all of the miners would be hauled up.