South Africa mine dump collapse kills 14 illegal miners, police say

Fourteen suspected illegal miners died and eight were injured when a mine dump collapsed in South Africa’s North West province on Monday night. Search and rescue operations are underway for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site near Rustenburg, provincial police commissioner Arthur Peter Adams said.

The collapse happened as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a disused dump on a private company’s property. The injured miners are from Lesotho, but the nationalities of those killed have not yet been confirmed.

Illegal mining has been a problem in South Africa for decades. It ranges from small-scale theft to operations run by organized criminal networks. Undocumented miners often enter abandoned commercial mines to extract remaining deposits, sometimes under the control of violent gangs. This illegal activity costs the government and mining industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost sales, taxes, and royalties.

“

Search and rescue operations were under way for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site near Rustenburg.