78 Our bodies Pulled From South Africa Gold Mine, With A whole lot Extra Believed Trapped

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — Rescuers and volunteers have pulled not less than 78 lifeless miners and greater than 160 survivors from an deserted South African gold mine, the place they’ve languished for over two months throughout a standoff with authorities who demanded they give up to police as a result of they had been mining illegally.

A whole lot are nonetheless believed to be trapped Wednesday and the loss of life toll is anticipated to rise in a catastrophe that has targeted criticism on the South African authorities’s choice to attempt to “smoke them out” by slicing off meals and different provides for a time. Civic teams declare authorities additionally eliminated the ropes and pulley techniques that the miners used to enter and exit not less than one shaft and ship down provides.

The teams say the federal government’s weekslong refusal to stage a rescue successfully left scores of miners to die of hunger or dehydration. A rescue is now underway — after a court docket order — however just a few miners could be pulled up at a time, and the operation might take 10 days.

South African authorities have argued that the miners had been at all times in a position to exit by means of one other shaft at Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, one of many deepest within the mineral-rich nation.

However activists stated that may contain a harmful trek underground that might take days for some, and lots of turned too weak or unwell after months underground with little meals and water. Police contend some miners refused to return out.

In response to a request by a relative of one of many miners, a court docket final week ordered a rescue operation, which started Monday. A specialist mining rescue firm has been dropping a small cage hundreds of meters (ft) into the mine to retrieve survivors and our bodies. However no personnel from the corporate entered the shaft as a result of they take into account it too harmful — as an alternative group volunteers headed down within the cage to assist the miners out.

Police first tried to power the miners out of the closed mine close to the city of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, in November by slicing off their provides. The transfer, half of a bigger crackdown on unlawful mining, started a standoff between authorities and the miners and members of the group.

A court docket dominated that authorities needed to enable provides in — however civic teams argue that officers wanted to do extra at that time as a result of even with out police interference the miners weren’t in a position to get sufficient meals and water into the mine and the state of affairs was changing into dire.

The mine is 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep with a number of shafts, many ranges and a maze of tunnels. A bunch representing the miners stated there are quite a few teams in numerous components of the mine and estimated that greater than 500 miners had been underground when the rescue began.

It’s unclear precisely how lengthy they’ve been underground, however relations say a few of them have been there since July.

Police stated Wednesday that 78 our bodies have been recovered to date, and 166 survivors introduced out because the official rescue operation started. A group group says one other 9 our bodies had been recovered on Friday and an unconfirmed quantity within the earlier weeks after members of the group tried to rescue miners themselves.

Civic teams representing the miners say not less than 100 have died.

The official rescue is now continuing slowly as a result of just a few folks can match within the cage at a time and since the shaft is so deep.

Authorities have argued that the miners might have exited in the event that they wished to — and police say greater than 1,000 did earlier than the rescue operation — however they didn’t as a result of they feared arrest. Police say they’ve arrested everybody who has surfaced each earlier than and after the rescue operation.

They are going to face costs of unlawful mining and trespassing. Authorities seized gold, explosives, firearms and greater than $2 million in money from the miners.

One of many civic teams representing the miners launched two movies over the weekend displaying what it stated had been the dire situations underground. The movies had been on a cellphone carried out of the mine by one of many miners, the group stated, together with a word urging folks to look at them.

In them, dozens of what seem like lifeless our bodies could be seen lined up in a darkened cavern and wrapped in plastic. In addition they present shirtless, emaciated-looking miners whereas the person filming says they’re dying and begs for authorities to ship them meals and get them out.

Authorities are notably beneath fireplace for his or her ways final yr, once they reduce off meals and different provides to the miners underground for a time period. It was an try to “smoke them out,” a South African Cupboard minister stated, including that authorities wouldn’t assist the miners as a result of they had been “criminals.”

Rights teams have condemned the plan, accusing authorities of contributing to a “massacre” on the mine, and members of the group have additionally gathered on the mine holding placards criticizing the authorities.

However whereas anger is excessive in the area people, the tragedy has not stoked a robust response throughout South Africa, the place unlawful mining is usually within the information.

The observe is widespread at mines that corporations have closed as a result of they’re not worthwhile, leaving teams of casual miners to enter in a seek for leftover deposits. South Africa has an estimated 6,000 deserted mines.

The South African authorities has taken a hard-line strategy to the teams, who’re often known as zama zamas — which suggests “hustlers” within the Zulu language — and have lengthy been an issue for authorities. They’re usually armed and a part of legal syndicates, the federal government says, and lots of are foreigners who entered South Africa illegally from neighboring nations.

The federal government says they’re robbing South Africa of greater than $1 billion a yr in gold.

Authorities stated that greater than 1,500 folks have been arrested for mining illegally within the Stilfontein space during the last yr, with the overwhelming majority of them from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

Imray reported from Cape City, South Africa.