1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. South Africa
  • News

15 miners trapped underground

Rescuers were trying to reach 15 miners trapped more than 2kms underground since Monday at a gold mine in Orkney in North West province, about 200 km west of Johannesburg, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Tuesday. The workers were trapped underground after a rockfall caused by a seismic shock measuring 2.9 points on the Richter Scale. The mine is owned by a new mining group, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM). A mine spokesman told SABC on Tuesday that there was hope that the miners were still alive. ARM chairman Patrice Motsepe told the South African Press Association the trapped miners included eight Lesotho nationals, two Mozambicans, a Swaziland national and four South Africans.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join