South African union calls Stilfontein mine siege a 'state-sponsored massacre'

Mine rescue workers host up a cage that was used to rescue trapped miners at an abandoned gold mine, where miners were rescued from below ground, in Stilfontein, South Africa, Thursday, 16 January 2025. © Themba Hadebe / AP

South African rescuers on Thursday ended their attempts to find anyone left in an illegal gold mine where at least 78 people died during a months-long police siege. The Giwusa labour union called the operation the "worst state-sponsored massacre" since the end of apartheid.

Since Monday, rescuers have used a cylindrical metal cage to pull up 78 bodies and 248 survivors, some of them emaciated and disorientated, in a court-ordered operation at the mine near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg.