South Africa says 31 illegal miners believed killed in explosion in May, only now coming to light

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Authorities in South Africa say at least 31 illegal miners are believed to have died in a gas explosion in a shuttered gold mine that happened last month but is only now coming to light after people reported their relatives missing. It’s thought the miners died on May 18 and most of their bodies are still underground, according to South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. Dangerously high levels of methane gas in the shaft have prevented search teams from going into the mine to retrieve the bodies. Illegal prospecting is rife in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, where miners go into closed and often dangerous shafts to dig for any deposits left behind.