At least 27 illegal Basotho miners who were killed at Harmony Gold Mine in Welkom are still trapped underground as attempts are being made to bring their bodies back home.

This was revealed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations Mr. Lejone Mpotjoane in his statement he made in the National Assembly on Monday.

Mr.  Mpotjoane said a total of 32 Basotho illegal miners died during the explosion of methane gas while working illegally underground at the Harmony Shaft N0.5 in Welkom in the Free State.

He said two of them survived the ordeal while three of them were brought to the surface and managed to be brought home where they were buried in Maseru and Berea districts.

He noted that the Ministry of Minerals and Energy in South Africa has established a Task team as well as a Rescue Team to see how the Basotho miners trapped underground could be brought to the surface.

The Minister said even though he was yet to receive an official report, he was reliably told that progress has been made and that a ventilation pipe connecting the Shaft N0 .05 and N0.04 was made to reduce the impact of methane so that operations could begin to bring the dead miners out of the mine.

He promised that the Government of Lesotho would not rest until those Basotho miners were brought back home to their families so that they could get dignified burials.

The tragedy befell these illegal Basotho miners in May this year and their families are still waiting to see their loved ones so that they could be buried as per the ritual.

Source: LENA 13/11/2023