Trapped miners in abandoned South Africa mine ‘starving’
Miners trapped in an abandoned South African mining shaft are experiencing starvation due to limited supplies, which police have restricted in an effort to evacuate the hundreds of people believed to be underground, according to a community leader and a rescued miner.
Over the past week, roughly a dozen people have resurfaced from the mine following authorities’ decision to prevent locals from lowering food and water, in a nearly two-week bid to clear the shaft.
Rescue operations involving volunteers were under way on Sunday in Stilfontein, southwest of the executive capital Pretoria, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Haru Mutasa, reporting from the site.
The rescued men were visibly weakened as they emerged from the mine with the help of volunteers. Others are reportedly too weak to be rescued.
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Amid pressure from rights groups, police called in experts to assess the safety of the mine shafts to help decide if officers could carry out a forced evacuation. But an order by the court in Pretoria ruled out that option, as it obliged the police to remove the blockade and permit the exit of the trapped miners.
