Five Miners Presumed Dead After Mudslide Traps Them in South African Diamond Mine

Five miners trapped for three days in South Africa’s Ekapa diamond mine after a mudslide are presumed dead, Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said Friday. Rescue teams continue working around the clock to reach their last known location by pumping out water and clearing mud and rock. South Africa, a major global mining hub, employs hundreds of thousands in the sector, which has seen declining workplace fatalities in recent years.

Five miners who have been trapped for three days in a South African diamond mine are now presumed dead, Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe announced on Friday, as rescue teams continue their efforts to reach them. The miners were caught in a sudden and massive mudslide early on Tuesday at the Ekapa mine near Kimberley, approximately 890 metres (3,000 feet) below the surface, and about 500 kilometres (310 miles) southeast of Johannesburg. The mudslide buried the miners in a remote section of the mine, making immediate access extremely difficult and dangerous for rescue personnel.
Speaking to local media, Mantashe explained the grim outlook: “If you are away from the 17th to today in a mud rush, as a miner, I can tell you that I would easily do what I call presumption of death and assume that they are dead. We hope that we can find those bodies rather than keeping the hope that they are alive.” His comments reflect the harsh realities of mining accidents, where survival chances diminish rapidly under such conditions.
Ekapa mine management reported that six dedicated rescue teams have been working around the clock since the incident. Their efforts have focused on pumping out water that has accumulated in the affected sections of the mine and carefully removing mud and rock to reach the last known location of the trapped miners. Ekapa is noted as the largest privately owned diamond mining company in the world, and it has mobilized all available resources to attempt the rescue, highlighting both the scale of the operation and the technical challenges involved in underground mining accidents of this magnitude.
South Africa is a major global mining powerhouse, producing not only diamonds but also coal, platinum, and gold. The mining sector employs approximately 470,000 people, according to the Minerals Council of South Africa in 2022. Despite the inherent risks, workplace fatalities have been declining; last year, 41 miners died in work-related accidents, which represented a record low for the country. Nevertheless, incidents like this mudslide at Ekapa underscore the ongoing hazards that miners face, particularly in deep underground operations where environmental and geological risks, such as sudden mudflows or collapses, can occur with little warning.
The ongoing rescue operation continues to draw attention both nationally and internationally, as families, colleagues, and authorities await news on the trapped miners. While the presumption of death casts a shadow over hopes for survival, the operation remains focused on safely reaching the miners’ last known location and recovering their bodies, emphasizing both the human cost of mining and the commitment to ensuring that proper procedures and resources are employed in the wake of such tragedies.