Why hundreds of miners are still trapped and feared starving in an abandoned South Africa mine

[Mary Wilson]

2:22pm Jan 15, 2025
By Associated Press

South African authorities have come under intense scrutiny for their response after civic groups said hundreds of miners have been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months, with more than 100 of them believed to have died of starvation or dehydration.
Authorities launched an operation in November to force out the men who were mining illegally at the closed Buffelsfontein Gold Mine by cutting off their food and water supplies from the surface for a period of time.​ ...

One group says more than 100 have died and 500 others are still trapped, with many ill and starving. ...

https://www.9news.com.au/world/sout...-trapped/1316b70b-b7ba-41e4-b1c2-60d39173844e
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[Mary Wilson]

Standoff in South Africa ends with 87 miners dead and anger over police’s ‘smoke them out’ tactics

​Updated 1:00 PM CST, January 16, 2025
BY MOGOMOTSI MAGOME AND GERALD IMRAY​

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday. Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help the miners and instead “smoke them out” by cutting off their food supplies.​ ...

National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors also pulled out from deep underground​ ...

The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released.​ ...

https://apnews.com/article/miners-mine-south-africa-dead-80a1a4809371269b592bf3e2695540ba