South African police find 21 bodies at Krugersdorp mine

South African police examine the invention of our bodies, suspected to be of unlawful miners, discovered close to an energetic mine west of Johannesburg.

Employees are seen underground in a mine on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. [File: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters] (Reuters)

South African police are investigating the invention of not less than 21 our bodies of suspected unlawful miners, discovered close to an energetic mine within the city of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.

In response to police, 19 our bodies have been recovered on Wednesday afternoon and two extra have been discovered on Thursday morning. Police stated they think that the our bodies have been moved to the placement the place they have been discovered, which is a privately-owned mine.

“We are able to verify that this morning our search and rescue workforce went again to the scene and, as they have been looking, they found two extra our bodies,” police spokeswoman Brenda Muridili stated on Thursday. “They retrieved them from an open [mine] shaft.”

The invention is the most recent in a sequence of incidents associated to unlawful mining within the Krugersdorp space. In July, eight feminine members of a movie crew have been raped and robbed at an deserted mine within the space, the place they have been engaged on a music video shoot. The incident sparked violent protests towards unlawful miners in surrounding communities.

Final week, rape and theft costs towards 14 males, who're additionally suspected of being unlawful miners, have been withdrawn after police couldn't hyperlink them to the rapes by DNA proof. The lads have been amongst greater than 80 folks arrested throughout police raids on the deserted mine the place the rapes passed off.

Unlawful mining is rife in South Africa, with miners identified regionally as “zama zamas” looking for gold on the many disused and deserted mines in and across the Johannesburg area. Krugersdorp is a mining city on the western edges of Johannesburg.

Unlawful mining gangs, normally armed, are thought-about harmful by the police and are identified to combat violent turf battles with rival teams. The commerce is believed to be dominated by immigrants who enter illegally from neighbouring international locations Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

The 14 males who had rape and theft costs towards them dropped are accused of being in South Africa illegally and have been charged with immigration offences.