Fourteen illegal chrome miners died after a mine caved in near Marikana in South Africa’s North West province, while authorities said others may remain trapped, The Daily Maverick reported.
Police estimate the collapse occurred around 9 p.m. Monday near the Nkaneng informal settlement, about 130 km northwest of Johannesburg. The bodies were discovered Tuesday morning near an abandoned mine shaft, according to the publication.
Eight miners were injured, the Associated Press said. Three were released from hospital and arrested on suspicion of illegal mining.
Illegal chrome mining and illicit washing plants are common in the region, where informal miners enter abandoned gold and platinum operations to extract remaining deposits to start their own operations.
Police crackdown
Police have stepped up efforts to dismantle illegal mining networks in North West, seizing 20 trucks and 15 excavators over the past two years, according to North West Police Commissioner Arthur Adams on local broadcaster SABC News.
The police are targeting gangs and organized crime who finance the operations, not just the miners, Adams said.
Illegal mining is rife in a country with an estimated unemployment rate of around 40% while home to some of the world’s oldest gold mines of the modern era. The commodity hovers near all-time price levels attracting new entrants in a dangerous livelihood among the deep historical shafts around Johannesburg.
Known as zamazamas, scores of illegal South African miners died last year at another local mine.
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