An operation to rescue two illegal miners trapped underground at the abandoned Rand Lease Gold Mine in Roodepoort has been suspended by the Johannesburg EMS today. According to spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi, the rescue operation was abandoned as it became dangerous for rescuers to continue.

TRAPPED 

The illegal miners are believed to have been trapped underground since Saturday at the mine next to the Jerusalema squatter camp. Community members told the media that they heard the zama zamas screaming from inside the shafts and asking for help. The community alerted the police and the rescue operations commenced. According to Mulaudzi, the zama zamas screams can no longer be heard."Yesterday when we were here, we could hear the screams, but with the 23 years of service that I have, I was told that the voices may not be coming straight down from the shaft itself. It may be 200-300 metres away from the shaft."Right now, we are not able to hear any of those voices. Maybe it's because they're tired,' Mulaudzi added.

OPERATION SUSPENDED 

Mulaudzi added that the rescuers went down 70 metres but an obstruction prevented them from going further. "Search and rescue operations have been terminated for now for safety reasons. Rescuers went 70 metres down and reached the makeshift platform where there was a hole leading to makeshift stairs, and we realised it was dangerous for the rescuers; hence the decision to abandon the operation,' he said. He also said that the operation was challenging. "The rescue operations need proper planning and coordination because there is always a risk of rescuers being injured and our priority is the rescuers' safety,' he said, adding that they are currently looking at other avenues and hoping that the community will give them more information. "We are hoping to get more information from the community members through the police and find a way to lead us to another manhole the illegal miners are using to access the same shaft,' he said.