Alleged illegal miner crushed to death
Emergency services recovered the body of a man believed to be an illegal miner.
A man lost his life when he was crushed by a rock on Sunday night while allegedly involved in illegal mining activities.
Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) were alerted to the incident after a resident of the Makause informal settlement reported the matter to the staff at the Primrose Fire Station, on Monday at 10am.
They rushed out to the scene at the old Primrose Gold Mine, on Stanley Road in Knights.
William Ntladi, media liaison officer for DEMS, told the GCN that a specialised rescue team, teams from the Primrose and Edenvale fire stations, as well as members of the SAPS and EMPD K9 units were involved in the recovery of the body.
Ntladi said that he believes a number of people were digging in the open-cast mine when the rock fell and crushed the unknown man to death.
“On the scene we found a number of hammers, picks, shovels and chisels, so this shows he was not working alone,” Ntladi said.
The teams managed to remove the body by 1.10pm.
The Primrose SAPS are investigating an inquest docket relating to the man’s death.
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