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Five miners who have been trapped for three days at a diamond mine in South Africa are now presumed dead, the country’s Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Friday, as rescue teams continue efforts to reach them.
Mantashe told local media that, given the length of time the miners had been buried in mud, it was reasonable to presume they had not survived, adding that the focus was now on recovering their bodies rather than holding out hope that they were still alive.
“If you are away from the 17th to today in a mud rush, as a miner, I can tell you that I would easily do what I call presumption of death and assume that they are dead”.
The workers were caught in a mudslide early Tuesday at a depth of about 890 metres (3,000 feet) underground at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley, approximately 500 kilometres southeast of Johannesburg.
Management of the Ekapa Mining said six rescue teams were working around the clock, concentrating on pumping out water to allow the removal of mud and rock and gain access to the miners’ last known location.
South Africa remains a major global mining producer, particularly of coal, platinum, gold and diamonds. The industry employed about 470,000 people in 2022, based on data from the Minerals Council South Africa, which also reported that 41 miners died in workplace incidents last year, the lowest figure on record.
