South Africa starts rescuing illegal gold miners trapped for months
An operation to rescue illegal gold miners stranded in deep underground shafts in South Africa’s North West province got under way on Monday, ending a months-long stand-off over their fate. Civil rights groups say at least 100 people have died from starvation since October when the authorities sealed off shafts at the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein about 156km southwest of Johannesburg,