[ 2012-05-27 ]

Bodies of 10 illegal miners recovered in S. Africa
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Rescuers have recovered the
bodies of 10 illegal diamond miners who were
killed in a disused mine tunnel earlier in the
week in the Northern Cape province, officials
said.

"By Saturday night 10 deceased diggers had been
recovered from the collapsed tunnels," said a
statement issued late on Saturday by the DeBeers
company which operates the mine in Kleinze.

"One digger has been rescued and eleven diggers
reportedly escaped from the collapsing tunnels on
Tuesday," it said.

Kleinzee is one of the small mining towns in the
arid and sparsely populated region of Namaqualand,
in the Northern Cape, the country's most
sparsely-populated province where mining is the
lifeblood of the region.

Two bodies were recovered on Tuesday, after the
accident was reported.

According to De Beers, the tunnels were excavated
illegally.

De Beers stopped operations in Namaqualand around
three years ago pending the mines' sale to fellow
miner Trans Hex, which signed a 225-million-rand
($27-million, 21-million-euro) acquisition deal
last year.

The mining giant closed down access to the mines
in April when it discovered illegal miners from
the area had started work in the tunnels.

Accidents involving illegal miners are common in
South Africa, where impoverished diggers often
take great risks to carve out tunnels or work in
disused shafts at diamond and gold mines.

Source - AFP

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