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Hundreds trapped in South African gold mine
Emergency spokesman tells Al Jazeera they have contacted at least 30 miners in the abandoned shaft near Johannesburg.
Last updated: 16 Feb 2014 15:03
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A cave-in has trapped more than 200 people who were illegally mining in an abandoned gold mineshaft east of Johannesburg, South Africa
Rescuers are trying to reach the miners, trapped by fallen boulders below the surface at the old mine site in Benoni, Reuters reported on Sunday.
Heavy equipment had been brought in to try to remove the boulders obstructing the shaft.
Emergency services have contacted at least 30 men, Werner Vermaak, ER24 emergency services spokesperson, told Al Jazeera.
"Emergency services were called out at the scene when local metro police heard the guys screaming for help," Vermaak said.
Vermaak said rescuers were communicating with a group of about 30 miners
trapped below the surface.
"They told us there are about 200 others trapped further below," Vermaak said.
"It's an abandoned mine shaft in the middle of the public veld (open fields) ... it was not a blocked-off area," he said, adding that no injuries or casualties had been reported so far.
A spokesman for The Gold One, which has prospecting rights to the area, said the miners were trapped in the "New Kleinfontein 6" ventilation shaft, which had been closed off with concrete slabs.
"The illegal miners have dug a tunnel right next to it to access the shaft and it has collapsed behind them," he said,
adding that heavy rain may have triggered the collapse.
Illegal mining of abandoned shafts is common in South Africa, where informal miners excavate mineral ore to be sold to buyers, often living underground in dangerous and precarious conditions.
"It is definitely a common occurence in South Africa," Vermaak told Al Jazeera. "These mines have been closed down because they are too dangerous to mine."
At least 82 men - thought to have been illegal miners - died after an underground fire at a Harmony gold mine in South Africa in 2009.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
