14 illegal miners dead, scores injured at disused South Africa mine, police say

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 11 - South African police said on Tuesday that 14 illegal miners had died and scores of others had been injured at a disused mine near Rustenburg in the North West province.

Police did not give more details. A senior provincial police official is on the way to the scene.

Illegal mining has plagued South Africa for decades through small-time pilfering and organised criminal networks.

Typically, undocumented miners move into mines abandoned by commercial miners and seek to extract whatever is left. Some are under the control of violent criminal gangs.

Illegal mining costs the government and mining industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost sales, taxes and royalties. REUTERS