6 died in South Africa’s Gloria coal mine explosion, some still trapped

Six people have died by a gas explosion in an abandoned coal mine in South Africa. BBC reports that around 20 workers are still trapped at the Gloria coal mine in Middelburg, east of the capital, Pretoria.

Some people had gone into the mine to steal copper wires when a gas pipe exploded, South African police said. Unfortunately, rescue efforts were being hampered by dangerously high levels of toxic gas, local media reported.

"We are still waiting for engines and generators to arrive to start putting oxygen into the ground," the local government official Speedy Mashilo told South Africa's national broadcaster SABC.

The Department of Mineral Resources said Thursday that five bodies had been retrieved from a shaft at the Gloria mine in Mpumalanga province, about two hours east of Johannesburg.

Mining is one of South Africa's most important industries. South Africa's Mineral Council, an industry body, says 84 miners were killed in 2018 in mine-related accidents.