Several kilometers underground, the gold prospectors in South Africa sat and pressed for months.
Without food and water – and surrounded by corpses.
– We ended up eating cockroaches. Others ate dead human bodies, I promise, an anonymous miner told Reuters.
At least 87 dead bodies have been recovered this week from an abandoned mine shaft near the town of Stilfontein, around 14 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg, reports AP.
The rescue operation has been preceded by a months-long struggle by the authorities to force thousands of illegal workers out of mines in the country. By cutting off access to food and supplies, they tried to “smoke them out” of the shaft.
But the vast majority chose to remain underground despite this – for fear of being arrested.
Described as “walking ghosts”
Human rights organizations have sharply criticized the approach, accusing the authorities of fueling a massacre.
Survivors from the mine have been described as “wandering ghosts”, who went for weeks without both water and food.
A gold prospector that AP spoke to testifies to the terrible conditions in the small caves.
– The vile stench permeated everything to such an extent that it was difficult to distinguish whether the smell came from the corpses or from the dirty living, he says.
“Encountered corpses and lots of bone remains”
In total, approximately 2,000 people are estimated to have worked in the mine, lured there from various parts of Africa and with promises of wages well above normal.
In the end, the vast majority could not stand the terrible conditions and tried in various ways to get above ground. A 40-year-old father left the mine through a separate shaft that had steel stairs.
– When we climbed out, we saw dead bodies of other guys who tried to get out in the same way. We came across corpses and lots of bone remains, almost like skeletons, he tells AP.
Lived on cockroaches and humans
Others chose to stay and then suffer through weeks and months of misery.
When the supply of food was withdrawn, all that remained were leaves, salt – and dead people.
– We ended up eating cockroaches. Others ate dead human bodies, I promise, an anonymous miner told Reuters.