Rescue team conducts final sweep at Stilfontein mine
Rescue workers were conducting a final sweep at
a mine in Stilfontein in the North West province on Thursday to determine
whether any illegal miners remain underground.
"Yesterday, we had two volunteers who went down with a cage and according to the information that they have provided to us, they inspected the whole shaft and walked up until shaft 10. They have confirmed that there is no longer anyone underground," said national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe.
Mathe updated the media on the Vala Umgodi operation underway at shaft 11 of the Buffelsfontein mine.
Over 246 zama zamas have been rescued by security cluster NATJoints since Monday.
READ: 60 dead at illegal South African mine
On Thursday, 84 illegal miners resurfaced, while 18 were pronounced dead.
Mathe says there have been zama zamas resurfacing from other shafts.
"We had five Zimbabweans that resurfaced, and this on Thursday morning, again we had two other Zimbabweans. Our operation is continuing, so we are still investigating all these shafts to ensure that we prevent and combat all incidents of criminalities."
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