"Food cut off." 87 waste gold miner bodies...South African government criticizes "cruel crackdown" [Now News]

Miners working illegally at abandoned gold mines in South Africa confronted police, killing 87 people.

South African police say they have recovered 78 bodies from the abandoned gold mine in Stilfontaine, Northwest, 140 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg, and rescued 246 miners underground since the 13th.

A South African police spokesman said 87 people were believed to have died, including nine bodies recovered before the rescue operation began, mostly from hunger and dehydration.

The disaster was reportedly caused by South African police, who had been cracking down on illegal mining, restricting the import of water and food to catch miners.

Police claimed the miners could have come through other shafts, but refused out of fear of arrest, but local labor groups blamed the disaster for a brutal crackdown by authorities.

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reporter | Kim Sun-joong
AI Anchor|Y-GO
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