Four bodies found after reported S.Africa mine shootings

JOHANNESBURG — South African police said Friday they had recovered four bodies from deep within an abandoned gold mine after reports of a shoot-out between illegal miners and security guards.The mine, which shut down amid complaints from workers that they had not been paid for months, is co-owned by a grandson of former president Nelson Mandela and a nephew of President Jacob Zuma through a firm called Aurora Empowerment System.The Sowetan newspaper reported Thursday that security guards at the Aurora gold mine east of Johannesburg had opened fire Monday on a group of illegal miners, leaving as many as 20 dead underground.Other reports indicated only two people remained missing. Police said they are still investigating how the miners died and would continue searching for bodies Friday."So far we have found four bodies," police spokeswoman Noxolo Kweza told AFP."We're continuing with the search. We don't know at the moment (what happened), we're still trying to piece together the information of what exactly happened there."The National Union of Mineworkers called for an investigation into the incident, saying those killed may have been former Aurora employees who resumed mining on their own after going unpaid for months and then being left jobless when the mine closed."We suspect that of course there may be a possibility that those who have been workers at Aurora, because of the dire circumstances they are finding themselves in, could have gone to this extreme to try and save themselves," union spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told AFP.Illegal mining in the bowels of South Africa's abandoned pits has long plagued the world's third-largest gold producer, with diggers -- known as "zama zamas" (try, try) -- living sometimes for months underground to smuggle the precious metal. Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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