Miners ‘left’ in shaft due to safety fears
The body of an illegal miner, believed to have died after falling down an abandoned mine shaft, has been left lying in the cold and dark for days now
The miner fell down a shaft located next to the traffic light, corner of Main Reef and Wit Deep roads, which is part of a gold mine that closed years ago.
He and others had spent days underground looking for gold. They then decided to resurface on Tuesday, January 28, but when they were about to reach the surface, something went wrong and one of them fell down the about 250m deep mine shaft.
Ekurhuleni Emergency Services officials said they were unable to help him due to safety fears.
Ekurhuleni Emergency Services (EMS) spokesman, Rogers Mamaile, confirmed that the man’s body is still not retrieved, because EMS personnel, called to the mineshaft were not allowed to be lowered down to bring the body to the surface.
Mamaila made it clear that no rescue operation will be carried out by his rescue team.
“The Department of Mineral Resources advised us against sending our members underground. In fact we were told that mounting any operation to bring the men’s body to the surface would put the lives of emergency service personnel at risk,” states Mamaila.
“Considering the injury from impact and reduction in the percentage of oxygen present, there is no way that the man could have survived the fall,” says Mamaila.
“Frankly, the odds of surviving this situation are not very good at all. We have also discovered that the deeper you go, the more the oxygen you need to breath decreases.”
A former member of the Mines Rescue Services mentions that the only option left for the body to be retrieve is to call the Mines Rescue Services team, because they are trained to work underground.
However, Mamaila revealed that the Department of Mineral Resources indicated to them that it was not planning to contract any agency to carry out the recovery operation.
“The decision to hire Mines Rescue Services to bring the body out lies with the Department of Mineral Resources, not us.”
One of the miners told the Advertiser that the underground tunnel also collapsed and he managed to escape through a small hole. He said there is a possibility that other miners left underground are being trapped.
Mamaila told a group of illegal miners, who emerged from the mine shaft that they should consider entering any abandoned mineshaft as an act of committing suicide.
“We reminded them (the miners) that what they are doing is considered unsafe practices. They are putting their lives in danger and they may also find themselves in the same situation, whereby rescuers are unable to assist should something tragic happens,” says Mamaila.
The Department of Mineral Resources has been approached for comment, but none has of yet been forthcoming.
