An underground fire has claimed the lives of 23 miners illegally working a disused shaft of the St Helena mine, in Welkom, on the Free State Goldfields, police said on Sunday. A number of illegal miners were feared to have suffocated or burned to death while trapped underground by the fire — which was thought to have started last month.
Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand mine near Carletonville has been shut down for up to six weeks after the mine’s main exit was blocked, trapping 3 200 miners underground, the Minerals and Energy Department said on Thursday. About 800 miners remained trapped more than 2,2km underground by 4pm on Thursday.