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Rescue workers are trying to extract survivors from the hundreds trapped in a South African mine

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — Rescue workers sent a cage-like structure into one of South Africa’s deepest mines Tuesday in an effort to bring out survivors among hundreds of illegal miners trapped underground for months in an abandoned shaft. More than 100 people are believed to have died from starvation or dehydration.

A group representing the miners said at least 18 bodies and 26 survivors have been recovered from the Buffelsfontein gold mine since Friday, but more than 500 miners are still believed to be underground. Police say they are not sure how many are left, but it is likely in the hundreds.

The mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, has been the scene of a tense standoff between police, miners and members of the local community since November, when authorities first launched an operation to try to evict the miners. According to reports, some of them have been underground since July or August last year.

Authorities say the miners can come out and are refusing to do so, but that is disputed by rights groups and activists, who have strongly criticized police tactics to cut off surface miners’ food and water supplies in an attempt to drive them out. . According to human rights groups, many of the miners are actually dying of starvation and cannot climb out because the shaft is too steep and the rope and pulley system that got them in has been removed.

Illegal mining is common in parts of gold-rich South Africa, where companies close mines that are no longer profitable, causing groups of informal miners to enter the mines illegally to try to find leftover deposits.

Large groups of illegal miners often go underground for months to maximize their profits. They take food, water, generators and other equipment with them, but also rely on others in their group on the surface to send more supplies down.

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Some have escaped from the mine since November, authorities have confirmed, although the exact number is not clear. Police say the miners fear being arrested if they come out.

Rights activists said the only way out is for miners to make a perilous trek to another shaft, which could take days, and crawl out. They said many of the miners are too weak or sick to climb out. The mine is 2.5 kilometers deep and has multiple shafts, many levels and is a maze of tunnels. The community mining group said there are numerous groups of miners in different parts of the mine.

The group Mining Affected Communities United in Action, which took authorities to court in December to force them to send food, water and medicine to the miners, released two cellphone videos that they said emerged from underground and showed dozens dead bodies were visible. of miners wrapped in plastic. A spokesman for the group said “at least” 100 miners had been killed.

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The cell phone videos purporting to come from the depths of the mine were filmed by a man who says: “This is hunger. People are dying of hunger,” as he captures emaciated-looking men sitting on the damp floor of the mine. He adds: “Please help us. Bring us food or take us out.”

South Africa’s police minister and mineral resources minister were due to visit the mine on Tuesday as authorities have come under scrutiny for their tactics.

South African minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters in November that the government would not help the miners, whom they considered “criminals.”

“We do not send aid to criminals,” she said, according to local media. “We’re going to smoke them out. They’re going to come out.”

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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