No more illegal miners underground in Stilfontein, say volunteer rescuers
According to the volunteers, all that’s left underground now were some of the remains that they were struggling to bring up to the surface.
A cage set to retrieve hundreds of illegal miners from an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein has been assembled. Picture: Nokukhanya Mntambo/EWN
STILFONTEIN - Three days into an operation meant to run for ten days, the volunteers who went underground to retrieve illegal miners in Stilfontein says there's no one left underground.
The third and final phase of a plan to extract hundreds of illegal miners kicked off at the start of the week.
The government-led operation is part of a broader plan to clamp down on illegal mining in the area.
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North West Police Commissioner Patrick Asaneng was on site with the latest.
The two volunteers sent down with the cage for the past three days have come back empty-handed.
After doing a fifth round underground, they said they had done a clean sweep and have found no more illegal miners.
According to the volunteers, all that’s left underground now were some of the remains that they were struggling to bring up to the surface.
Asaneng said they were going to verify this information.
The mine rescue experts have closed up shop for the evening and are expected to return on Thursday to do a sweep of their own in the shafts.