Welkom_mining_explosion
Welkom mining explosion
2023 disaster in South Africa
At least 31 people are suspected to have died in a methane gas explosion at a disused gold mine in South Africa around the third week of May in 2023.[3][2][4][5][6]
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) reported late on 22 June 2023 that the miners had died in a mining shaft at the abandoned Virginia mine in Welkom, Free State.[7][8][6][9] The miners, believed to be foreign nationals from Lesotho who were there mining illegally, may have died on or around 18 May 2023.[10][3][9]