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Five Illegal Miners Found Dead In Abandoned South African Shaft
Rescue officials move a rock removed from an abandoned gold shaft as they work to rescue trapped suspected illegal miners in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, February 16, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
26/02/2014
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Five illegal miners have been found dead in an abandoned shaft near Johannesburg, emergency services said on Wednesday, highlighting the dangers of scavenging for bullion beneath Africa's financial centre.
Two illegal migrants from Zimbabwe died earlier this month in another disused gold mine on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
Emergency services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said the five bodies were brought to surface on Tuesday night and were confirmed dead at the scene. The bodies were recovered in an old shaft in Roodepoort, just west of Johannesburg.
"We can't confirm the cause of death yet, it could have been a number of things," said Mulaudzi.
Driven by desperation and poverty in a country with an unemployment rate of around 25 percent, illegal miners chance their luck in the labyrinth of some of the world's oldest and deepest gold mines, often armed with little more than a torch and pick-axe.
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