Efforts to rescue boy from Ekurhuleni mine shaft continue

The gruelling search for the five-year-old boy who fell down a mine shaft in the Jerusalem informal settlement near Witfield in Ekurhuleni on Saturday resumed again on Wednesday morning after the shaft was excavated on Tuesday night.

By midday on Wednesday, there was still no sign of the boy.

Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (Edems) spokesperson William Ntali said late on Tuesday afternoon that an excavator needed to be brought in after mine rescue technicians found that the camera could not penetrate deeper than 120 metres in the shaft due to thick mud.

Around 350 community members of the Jerusalem informal settlement look on to the rescue efforts.

Edems had been onsite since Saturday afternoon after the boy was reported missing. Ntladi said the boy had been playing with other children at the edge of the opening of the shaft when he fell into the hole.

Mine rescue services were then called to the scene to assist and, for days, rescue workers have been working to rescue the boy, but the unstable ground in the shaft, gases and depth posed challenges to their efforts. Ntladi said the water level was at 140m.

On Wednesday morning, Jerusalem informal settlement community members resumed their post looking on as rescue workers set to work sending the camera on a specialised dolly down the opening of the shaft again, after the excavation was completed.

Mine rescue technicians lower the camera into the shaft on Tuesday.

Ekurhuleni MMC for community safety Vivian Chauke returned to the site on Wednesday morning and was briefed by the rescue services on the progress.

On Tuesday afternoon, the MMC had taken the mother of the boy near to the edge of the shaft’s opening to explain why excavation was necessary.

READ MORE: Efforts to rescue child who fell down mine shaft thwarted

Ekurhuleni MMC for Community Safety Vivian Chauke takes the mother of the child who fell down the shaft to the edge of the opening to explain why excavation was needed.

The MMC further expressed her concern that the Jerusalem informal settlement was based on a mining belt and said it was necessary for discussions with the land owners to find suitable land to accommodate the community and to move them from the unstable land.

Mine rescue workers set up equipment to search for the child.

Illegal mine workers who were dissatisfied with the mine rescue operation so far have said they would assist with the rescue.

READ MORE: Illegal miner offers ‘expert’ advice how to retrieve boy, 5, from shaft

– Caxton News Service

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