Lesotho seeks help from SA to recover illegal miners’ bodies
The Lesotho government has alerted South Africa, on the death of at least 31 Basotho nationals in an old Free State mine. The miners are suspected to have lost their lives on the 18 May 2023, in ventilation shaft 5 Virginia Mine in Welkom. GAS LEVELS BLOCK RECOVERY EFFORTS ALSO READ: Illegal miners arrested with stolen […]
The Lesotho government has alerted South Africa, on the death of at least 31 Basotho nationals in an old Free State mine. The miners are suspected to have lost their lives on the 18 May 2023, in ventilation shaft 5 Virginia Mine in Welkom.
GAS LEVELS BLOCK RECOVERY EFFORTS
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The mine, which was previously owned by Harmony, was last operational in the 1990’s.
“Although information on this tragic situation comes sporadically, we are doing our best to act on the information.”
Attempts to recover the bodies of the miners have been hampened by dangerous levels of gas trapped in the shaft, discovered by inspectors from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy(DMRE).
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“Working in collaboration with the previous owners of the mine, Harmony, the department’s inspectors have assessed the situation and determined methane levels in the mine ventilation shaft 5 are very high. It is too risky to dispatch a search team to the shaft” the department says.
DEPARTMENT SEEKING WAYS TO RECOVER THE BODIES
The department has said they are looking into other options on how to recover the bodies and ‘speedily remedy the situation’. Three bodies have so far been retrieved by other illegal miners.
“Although this is a unique and strange situation, all relevant stakeholders will endeavour to ensure that the suspected deseased illegal miners are brought to the surface”, the department adds.
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