As day two of the 10-to-16-day operation to rescue illegal miners trapped underground at the Buffelsfontein gold mine just outside Stilfontein came to a close on Tuesday evening, 14 January, the number of bodies retrieved reached 51.
The Mine Rescue Services (MRS) team tasked with retrieving miners trapped in Shaft 11 of the abandoned Buffelsfontein gold mine on the outskirts of Stilfontein, North West, worked well into the evening to pull up emaciated and dead miners.
By 10pm on Tuesday, 14 January, 51 corpses had been removed from the shaft, along with 106 miners who were arrested for illegal mining.
On day one of the operation, Monday, 13 January, nine bodies were brought to the surface and 26 illegal miners rescued.
During a media briefing at the rescue site on Tuesday, MRS CEO Mannas Fourie said that while the operation was moving ahead swiftly, the rescue team faced several challenges when they began their operation on Monday.
"Unfortunately, every rescue site is different. This is a dangerous and high-risk operation. We operate in front and on the verge of an open hole. We go down for approximately 2.6km into the shaft," Mannes said.
During the briefing, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said authorities had no way of knowing exactly how many illegal miners are trapped underground.
"We will only know how many people remain underground through...