The South African government has launched a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine in the country\u2019s North West province, where at least 109 men have died, a group representing the miners said, after local authorities cut off vital supplies in a dramatic bid to crack down on the country\u2019s illegal mining trade. <\/p>\n
As of Tuesday evening, at least 51 bodies and 66 survivors had been pulled out of the Stilfontein mine, according to South African police, with many more feared trapped inside. <\/p>\n
While estimates varied on how many men were in the mine, Meshack Mbangula, head of the Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), had earlier estimated that 500 people were trapped underground. <\/p>\n
The video, filmed by one of the miners last week, according to Mbangula, also shows shirtless, emaciated-looking men with protruding bones and ribs. <\/p>\n
A man speaking in Zulu, pleads to be rescued in one scene. Another man says: \u201cHow many days must we live in a situation like this.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cPlease take us out. Please assist us to come out or if not, please give us food because [there are] people who are dead. We\u2019ve got 109 people dead and we need plastic to wrap them because the smell is too much, we can\u2019t stand the smell,\u201d the miners said in the letter. <\/p>\n
Community-led groups like MACUA say they have led the effort to help the trapped miners for months, he said, as police cut off food and vital supplies to the men in November in an attempt to force them out and close the mine. <\/p>\n
The police\u2019s move \u2013 a self-described crackdown on the illegal mining industry \u2013 has drawn criticism from community groups and South Africa\u2019s Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), who in November called it \u201cvindictive,\u201d and one that may \u201cend in a tragedy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told reporters in November that food and water supplies to those underground had been halted. \u201cWe are stopping and preventing food and water to go down there as a way of forcing these illegal miners to resurface because what they are doing is criminality,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Miners would face arrest upon resurfacing, according to police. <\/p>\n
In November, a South African court ordered police to halt its standoff, provide food to the trapped miners and allow rescue teams to access the mine. The nation\u2019s Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) also said it was investigating the police service for halting vital supplies to the miners. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, facing intensifying public pressure and reports that many of the miners had already died, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said it had begun plans to conduct a rescue operation at the abandoned shaft. The mineral resources department said \u201cthe decision to deploy rescue services was made independently\u201d and not mandated by a court. <\/p>\n
South Africa harbors up to 100,000 artisanal miners, known locally as \u201czama zamas\u201d with most of the minerals derived from artisanal mining \u201csold to the black market, and international illicit mineral traders,\u201d according to SAFTU. <\/p>\n
The nation also loses more than $1 billion to illegal mining annually, with the black market trade in gold linked to violent turf wars, according to a parliamentary brief. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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