A miner is transported on a stretcher by rescue workers after he was rescued from below ground in an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba ...

she said at the abandoned Buffelsfontein gold mine about 100 miles southwest of Johannesburg on Monday, ahead of the start of the rescue mission. Nearly 2,000 illegal miners — known locally as ...

The mine is 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) deep with multiple shafts, many levels and a maze of tunnels. Another civic group had estimated that more than 500 miners were underground when the rescue ...

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — South African police ended a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine on Wednesday and said they believe they have brought out all the survivors and retrieved ...

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least ...

Illegal miners are escorted by police officers after being rescued from an abandoned gold mine for months, in Stilfontein, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) ...

South Africa has an estimated 6,000 abandoned mines, and authorities said more than 1,500 people had been arrested for illegal mining in the Stilfontein area since last August. The South African ...