JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — The bodies of another 15 people have been recovered at an abandoned gold shaft in South Africa, bringing the toll from a deadly fire last month to 76, police said Thursday.
"The bodies were recovered this morning at about 8 am (0600 GMT). They were discovered by other miners," police spokesman Sam Makhele said.
Police are trying to determine whether the latest victims were also illegal miners hoping to find gold in the abandoned shaft, he added.
"At this stage we are not sure if they are also illegal miners. We are asking people to come and identify the bodies, although they are badly decomposed," he said.
The bodies were recovered after a fire reportedly broke out on May 18 in the disused shaft owned by Harmony Gold, the world's fifth-largest gold producer, in central Free State province.
Harmony chief executive Graham Briggs said most miners appeared to have died from smoke inhalation.
It was the second major accident in South Africa this year, after 20 illegal miners died in March at another mine.
Illegal mining deep inside South Africa's abandoned pits has long plagued the world's third-largest gold producing nation, with diggers living sometimes for months underground to smuggle the precious metal.
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