South Africa mine rockfall kills 14 miners

Fourteen clandestine miners were killed and eight others were seriously injured after a rockfall at a disused mine near Rustenburg in South Africa, police said Tuesday.

The disaster happened about 100 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. Provincial police spokeswoman Colonel Adele Myburgh said officials were still heading to the site and did not yet have details about the miners, including their nationalities.

Thousands of unregistered miners, known as zama zamas, work in abandoned mines in South Africa, scavenging for gold and other minerals in dangerous conditions. Myburgh said the discarded mine shafts were dilapidated and lacked safety measures.