A FIRE claimed the lives of six miners at the premises of Palabora Mining Company, a copper mining firm operating in South Africa’s Limpopo province.
Palabora said the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday at one of its underground conveyer belts. Mine management, government officials and organised labor were on the scene investigating, the company said.
Mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, extended his condolences to the families of the six mineworkers, adding that it was “… unfortunate that yet again, as a country, we have lost so many lives in this disaster. These deaths add to an already high number of lost lives in the industry, since the beginning of the year”.
The Department of Mineral Resources said it would proceed with an investigation into the cause of the accident soon after the fire underground had been extinguished and the area was declared safe.
