Limpopo police have opened an inquest after the bodies of eight suspected illegal miners were retrieved in Driekop outside Burgersfort on Saturday night.
According to Limpopo police, the alleged illegal miners were trapped underground from Friday until Saturday night.
“One South African, three Mozambicans and four Zimbabweans were allegedly busy with illegal mining activities when the water coming from heavy rains that fell in the area apparently pushed the soil that blocked the only point they were using for entry and exit. They then apparently suffocated,” Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said.
“The police were called last night and on arrival they reportedly found that the local community members had already dug a hole and gained access to the mines and that they had already started retrieving the bodies.”
He said police in Driekop outside Burgersfort have opened an inquest docket.
“Charges in terms of the Immigration Act will also be preferred against the seven deceased as they were in the country illegally. A case of illegal mining will also be registered against all of them,” he said.
Postmortems will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, the Limpopo police commissioner warned community members to stop engaging in illegal mining activities as this was unsafe and against the law.
“We have established a team to deal with illegal mining activities around the province, especially in the area along the R37 road in Sekhukhune District and many illegal miners have been arrested and mining equipment confiscated,” Hadebe said.
Source: Times Live, IOL, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: @channelafrica1