Rescue workers at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine near Carletonville have located two of the three remaining workers still trapped underground after Thursday night’s rock fall.
Thirteen mineworkers were trapped after a seismic event caused collapses three kilometres underground.
Four miners have been confirmed dead while six others have been brought to the surface and are receiving treatment in hospital.
The mine’s James Wellsted says the location of the two miners will help guide rescue efforts.
“We’ve got a pretty good sense of where the third one is now which should enable us to be more direct with the rescue so we can start digging towards them directly which should speed up the process quite a bit. We’re not close enough to make contact so we’ll have to get there and see what the condition is. But I think at this point it’s not that hopeful, to be honest. If there’s anything that can be done to get them safely to the hospital we’ll try and do our best but it has been a long time that they’ve been underground.”
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has extended his condolences to the families of the mineworkers who died at the mine.
Rescue operations were halted for over an hour today, after two more tremors.
