3 missing after South Africa mine collapse

  • 06/02/2016
Security guards keep watch at the entrance of the Lily mine, which is owned by Vantage Goldfields (Reuters)
Security guards keep watch at the entrance of the Lily mine, which is owned by Vantage Goldfields (Reuters)

By Sipiwe Sibeko

Almost 90 miners have been rescued and three other workers are missing after a cave-in at a gold mine in the northeast of South Africa, mine owner Vantage Goldfields says.

The collapse at the mine's main entrance on Friday trapped 87 workers underground, all of whom were rescued, the small, Australia-based gold producer said in a statement, but three others who had been working on the surface at the time could not be accounted for.

No fatalities were reported. Work at the mine was suspended pending investigation on what caused the collapse, Vantage said.

"The three missing are office workers, not miners. We are not going to rest until we find them," Mike Begg told reporters at the mine near the town of Barberton in Mpumalanga province, about 360km east of Johannesburg.

Reporters were not allowed near the site where the cave-in occurred, and a crowd stood outside the perimeter fence awaiting word on the results of rescue attempts.

Vantage Goldfields mines gold at Barberton, a town that traces its origin to South Africa's 19th century gold rush.

It was delisted from the Australian bourse in January 2015.

"At this point, it's unclear what caused the disaster," Manzini Zungu, a spokesman for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, said.

South Africa's mines are the deepest and among the most dangerous in the world.

The number of deaths in the industry has fallen due to both improved safety practices and a reduction in the labour force as production declines.

Last year, 77 workers were killed in mining accidents, the lowest number on record

Reuters