South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater said that seven of the 13 mine workers trapped underground at its Masakhane mine, Driefontein operations passed away from injuries sustained during the incident
Sibanye-Stillwater said that the other six were shifted to a hospital and remained in a stable condition.
The gold miner announced last Thursday that 13 workers were trapped at its Masakhane mine, Driefontein operations due to a “seismic event”.
In February, about 1,000 miners were trapped in the company’s Beatrix gold mine for nearly a day, raising questions about the company’s record on mine safety.
By the end of March, 22 people had been killed in South Africa’s mines, according to the Department of Mineral Resources.
Last year, 88 people died in South Africa’s mines, higher than 2016, when 73 people lost their lives in incidents related to mine safety.
“As government and South Africans at large, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased workers, among whom are workers from neighbouring states including Mozambique,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“We also offer our best wishes to workers who have been directly or indirectly affected by this disaster, which should move the mining industry and government to jointly find ways to do all we can to protect our nation’s most valuable resource - the workers who are at the heart of our economy,” he added.
