At least 14 suspected illegal miners were killed and eight injured when a mine dump collapsed in South Africa’s North West province on Monday night, police said.Search and rescue operations are under way 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 occurred as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a disused dump on a private company’s site, Adams said.Rubber boots believed to belong to illegal miners lay near a shaft entrance at a disused mine near Rustenburg, North West province, South Africa. Photo: ReutersThe injured miners are from the southern African country of Lesotho, while the nationality of those killed has yet to be confirmed.Illegal mining has plagued South Africa for decades, ranging from small-scale theft to operations run by organised criminal networks.Undocumented miners often enter abandoned commercial mines to extract remaining deposits, sometimes under the control of violent gangs.Illegal mining costs the government and mining industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost sales, taxes and royalties.
South Africa mine dump collapse kills 14 illegal miners
Rescue operations are under way near Rustenburg after disused platinum dump collapses on group digging for precious metals.
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