Bodies of last two missing mineworkers recovered from Kusasalethu

Kusasalethu mine

The bodies of the last two of the five mineworkers trapped by a fall of ground following a rockburst last Friday morning at Harmony’s Kusasalethu mine near Carletonville have been located and recovered.

In a statement released on Thursday, Harmony CEO Peter Steenkamp commented, “our condolences go out the families and friends of those who lost their lives. We will continue to provide the necessary support to the families of the deceased.

“Investigations into the incident, involving representatives of the company, organised labour and the health and safety directorate of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) will take place,”  he added.

The seismic event – also known as a “rockburst” – took place a depth of 3,100m resulting in the suspension of all operations at the mine other than those related to the rescue effort.

The bodies of three of the mineworkers had been recovered by early this week but operations to locate the last two missing people were hampered by what Harmony management called, “challenging ground conditions which made rescue efforts particularly difficult.”