A community-led rescue effort to help recover thousands of suspected illegal miners trapped underground in Stilfontein in the Northwest is expected to continue today.

Last week, more than 1,000 illegal miners emerged from an abandoned mine shaft in Orkney, after being deprived of water and food.

Stilfontein community leader Thembile Botman said: “We had a long engagement yesterday with the authorities, the South African Police Service, so yesterday we tried to send water and sweet porridge so that Today we can begin the process of helping them resurface. »

“Yesterday we had community volunteers who were available to help the authorities go underground. When the person came back, he told us that there were more than 4,000 people underground.

Botman adds: “He told us that some people were dehydrated because they had been there for a long time, without water or food. Some of them are sick, others can’t move, and he confirmed that there are corpses underground.

PODCAST: Interview with Botman on illegal miners trapped in Stilfontein