Operation underway to rescue more than 100 trapped illegal miners in South Africa

​​​​​​​By Hassan Isilow

An operation is underway in South Africa's northeastern Mpumalanga province to rescue more than 100 illegal miners who are trapped at an abandoned mine in Sabie town, police said Wednesday.

Police said six illegal miners have resurfaced but three others are reportedly dead.

"Various units of the South African Police Services, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the Department of Health, the Department of Home Affairs, as well as two Private Security Companies, and Land Owners Plantation Companies are on board on this operation" police said in a statement.

Officials said they learned Tuesday about the illegal mining activity when members of a private security company who were patrolling a farm in the area found four men who appeared to be fleeing the area.

The men informed security guards that they and others were trapped inside an abandoned mine, said police.

Police were dispatched and managed to rescue two foreign nationals, aged 23 and 24, along with four South Africans.

Officials said those rescued said that they had been forced to work and mine for gold by their captors under dangerous and dire conditions.

"Tragically, three individuals lost their lives while trapped inside the mine shaft," according to police, who indicated that those running the illegal operation could be heavily armed.

News about the miners in Sabie comes as hundreds of miners continue to hide in an abandoned mine in Stilfontein in the northwest province for weeks, fearing they will be arrested when they resurface.

Dozens have come out but hundreds are said to still be inside the gold mine, where several bodies have been pulled out.

Illegal mining has become common in South Africa where unemployed nationals and foreigners from neighboring countries risk their lives to enter disused mines to scrap for gold and other minerals.