South Africa's mining union says it received reports of 300 trapped in mine
JOHANNESBURG, May 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday that it has received reports of about 300 workers trapped underground at a mine near Johannesburg.
"We have reports that about 300 workers are trapped underground at Kloof mine No. 7 shaft. The incident happened at around 10 pm yesterday," a spokesperson for NUM told Reuters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The six-year-old albino boy whose hand was hacked off by his FATHER to make potions for witchdoctors in Tanzania
A band of armed men storm into the house of a six-year-old boy in the dead of night. They knock his terrified mother unconscious before bursting into the child's bedroom, hauling him from his cot and pinning him to the ground. Then one member of the group - the boy's own father - steps forward with a machete and mercilessly swings it down to sever the boy's hand. They gleefully make off with the body part, leaving the child screaming and bleeding in his empty bedroom. No, this is not the plot of a Stephen King novel or a skin-crawling horror film. This is the lived experience of Baraka Cosmas Lusambo, one of hundreds of people with albinism (PWAs) across Central and East Africa who became unwilling organ donors at the hands of people who believe their body parts can cure afflictions or bring good fortune. Albinos - sometimes referred to as 'the invisibles' - have historically suffered appalling treatment in parts of the African continent. Not long ago, albino babies were routinely killed at birth, thought by their parents to be bad omens or curses. Today, infanticide has largely declined, but many PWAs are born with a price tag on their head. Even people born without albinism but with particularly fair skin and eyes risk a similar fate. Last week, the guilty verdict handed down last week to a South African woman who sold her bright-eyed daughter to a witch doctor in February 2024 renewed focus on the dark trade of human trafficking and the targeting of young children for profit. But PWAs like Baraka are ever more susceptible to the deplorable practice. There are countless horror stories across East and Central African nations of albino children and adults alike being butchered - sometimes by their own relatives - and their remains used in macabre concoctions. Bones are ground down and buried in the earth by miners, who believe they will be transformed into diamonds. The genitals are made into treatments to bolster sexual potency, and their hair is woven into fishermen's nets. Nowhere are these practices more rife than Tanzania, where roughly one in 1,400 people are born with albinism - the highest incidence of the condition anywhere in the world. In Baraka's case, his injuries came about after a 17-person-strong gang led by his father, Cosmas Lusambo, and his uncle stormed into his house and hacked off his hand with a machete. His lower leg was also badly injured in the attack but doctors were able to save it. The group reportedly sold the child's bloodied and battered body part on the open market for $5,000 - a huge sum in a country where the average wage in 2016 was the equivalent of $157 per month. Though Baraka will contend with the trauma for the rest of his life, reports about his vile ordeal caught the eye of the Global Medical Relief Fund, a charity started by Staten Island woman Elissa Montanti in 1997 to help young people from crisis zones get custom prostheses. Baraka was one of five Tanzanian children treated in the US for their injuries sustained when they were attacked for their body parts Montanti reached out to Under the Same Sun, a Canada-based group that advocates for and protects people with albinism in Tanzania that sheltered Baraka following the attack in March 2015. When Montanti asked if she could help him, the group said four more children who had been attacked for their organs were in need of care, and pleaded with the charity founder to consider providing new limbs for them as well. Montanti agreed and brought all five to live for the summer at her charity's home on Staten Island, while they underwent the process of getting fitted for and learning to use prostheses about two hours away at Philadelphia Shriners Hospital for Children. The cohort of kids spent five months of 2015 from June to October living with Montanti while undergoing prostheses fitting and rehabilitation at the hospital in Philadelphia. Between trips to the hospital, Montanti filled their summer with trips to various American landmarks, swimming pools, and the beach - activities that could have proven lethal in their native Tanzania. Montanti said at the time the children had become like her adopted kids, and that she had grown especially close to Baraka. 'They're not getting their arms back,' she said. 'But they are getting something that is going to help them lead a productive life and be part of society and not be looked upon as a freak or that they are less than whole.' The group of five children, including Baraka, returned to Tanzania in October 2015 and were looked after in secure sheltered accommodation in the city of Dar es Salaam. But they made frequent trips to and from Staten Island for new prostheses to accommodate their growing bodies. Baraka is now 16 years old. Montanti told MailOnline that he and his friends will return to Staten Island once again in August this year. Albinism is a condition caused by a genetic mutation that strips the skin, hair and eyes of pigment created by melanin, a substance that also acts as a shield against the sun's harmful ultraviolet light. The lack of protective melanin comes with heightened risks of skin cancer and vision loss for those exposed to the sun. Those born with it can generally live long, healthy lives provided they are appropriately looked after as children and have the provisions to protect themselves as adults. Unfortunately, this is not often the case in large parts of Africa. More than 90% of people with albinism on the continent, where roughly one out of every 5,000 people is born with the condition, die before they reach the age of 40 due to health complications brought on by sun exposure. In rural areas, PWAs are sometimes banned from working or going to school and are isolated by their communities - a move that makes them all the more vulnerable to bounty hunters, traffickers, witch doctors and impoverished citizens with nowhere else to turn. One of the most dangerous myths is that having sex with an albino can cure HIV. That belief has driven an epidemic of sexual violence against albino women, many of whom contract the virus as a result. PWAs are hunted, murdered, and dismembered. Children are kidnapped from their families, or in some cases sold off by willing parents desperate for money. Even in death, they are not safe. Grave robbers are known to desecrate the graves of PWAs to steal their bones. As attacks on PWAs became more widely reported after the turn of the century, governments and judiciaries have taken some steps to reduce the violence. In 2009, a Tanzanian court handed out death sentences to three men who were convicted of abducting and butchering 14-year-old albino boy Matatizo Dunia - the first time capital punishment was handed out for such a crime. The attackers broke into Dunia's home and dragged him out of his bed before hacking him to pieces. One was reportedly found holding his severed leg while the boy's dismembered corpse was discovered dumped in scrubland. But there are thought to be dozens if not hundreds of cases of attacks on PWAs that go uninvestigated or unreported altogether, and critics say many governments - including that of Tanzania - are doing little to change the violent trend. In February, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) delivered a landmark judgment against the Tanzanian government after civil rights groups successfully argued officials were committing human rights violations by failing to prosecute attacks against PWAs. The ruling decreed that the government must launch a years-long public awareness campaign, criminalise attacks against PWAs and increase healthcare provisions for albinos those with skin and eye problems. It came after the UN last year condemned Tanzanian authorities for their failure to condemn and investigate attacks against PWAs after examining multiple cases of mutilation which were either not investigated, or had prosecutions withdrawn. It remains to be seen whether the ACHPR's ruling will have any effect on the Tanzanian government's policies, given that there is no official method to enforce the court's decisions. Tanzania is just one of several nations where violence against PWAs is rife. The past two decades have seen dozens of cases of PWA mutilations and killings in neighbouring Kenya, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), among others.
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
12 injured & hazmat cops deployed after ‘suspicious package' found at DHL depot after spate of Russian parcel attacks
AT LEAST 12 people have been injured after a suspicious package was discovered in a DHL distribution centre. Police and specialist hazmat officials were deployed to the warehouse in Langenzenn, Germany this morning after several workers fell ill. 1 It follows a spate of Russian attacks across Europe on parcel depots in the past 12 months. Seven workers at the depot were taken to the hospital, a police spokeswoman confirmed. Officials fear the number of those affected could still rise. According to initial investigations, a suspicious package was found early in the morning. It is still unclear what was inside. .
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Terrifying moment two children cheat death after falling from bouncy castle blown 40 feet into the air during school fund-raiser
Terrifying footage captures the moment two children cheat death after falling from a bouncy castle blown 40 feet into the air by strong winds. The horror happened during a fund-raising day at a school in South Africa when an unexpected gust caused the apparently untethered inflatable to take flight. Witnesses at the Laerskool Protearif primary in Krugersdorp screamed in terror as the multi-coloured castle spiralled high into the sky. A shocked attendant watched helplessly as one of the children trapped on the inflatable was unable to hold on and plummeted to the ground below. Just moments later, a second youngster also lost their grip and plunged off the side of the castle. Quick-thinking parents at the event formed a human crash pad to break the pupils' fall, but despite their efforts, both children were still seriously injured. They were rushed to hospital where one was said to have a fractured skull and the other a broken arm. It is not known how many or if any other children were on board and managed to cling on inside the bouncy castle which landed about 50 feet from where it took off. The fund-raising event that nearly turned into a tragic disaster was held last Saturday on the school playing fields attended by over 1000 parents, pupils and friends. School headmaster Deon Lourens declined to comment but a statement on the school Facebook site confirmed two learners were rushed to the nearest A & E unit. It revealed that one child, thought to be the one with the broken arm, was released the same day, and the other with a fractured skull, was released three days later. The statement read that both children were receiving trauma counselling but added: 'It is with great gratitude that we are happy to share the very good news with you. 'The two children who sustained injuries during the fracture accident at the Protea festival on Saturday were discharged from hospital on 31/5 and 3/6 respectively. 'The necessary trauma-counselling was given to both children, as well as to their co-learners, who experienced the event and thank you all for standing together. 'We thank you very much for everyone's positive support, help and prayers' it said. An eye-witness with two pupils at the school, who asked not to be named for fear of getting her children into trouble, said: 'When they fell I thought they were dead. 'I was watching from a food stall with my girls when I heard screaming and turned around and just saw this blue, green and red thing shooting up to the heavens. 'Then there was a huge scream when first one child and then another fell out but of all the places they could have landed it was right over a group of parents below. 'They reached up their arms to try to catch the falling children and undoubtedly saved their lives or saved them from much worse injuries by cushioning them. 'It was not a very windy day but it seemed this huge gust just came from nowhere and it was said the bouncy castle had not been secured to the ground' she said. The school has 620 pupils aged 6 to 13 and last hit the headlines due to high winds when a tornado blew off its roof and destroyed its buildings in 2017. The 100mph tornado devastated a huge area of Johannesburg killing three people. A video of the incident was given to a local paper The Citizen by a concerned parent who said: 'I have looked at the video again and again and it appears untethered. 'While I saw that other inflatable structures were secured it did not look as if this jumping castle was tied to the ground in any way and went up about 3 storeys. 'I seriously hope lessons are learned for future school fundraisers' he said. It is unclear from the footage whether any ropes, tethers or anchoring mechanisms usually sold with the product were being used as they have to be by the law. Melissa Vere Russel of ABC Jumping Castles, not the company used, said: 'In high gusts a bouncy castle can act like a parachute and the wind can carry it away. 'All castles are manufactured with mechanisms to secure them to the ground and failing to anchor them properly could end in disaster and could be fatal'. The school's principal Deon Lourens declined to comment and his deputy Lauren van der Merwe said the matter had been referred to the Department of Education. A school spokesman added: 'There is a full and transparent investigation underway into what happened and it would inappropriate to comment until that is concluded'. Disasters on bouncy castles 'taking off' are not uncommon and a criminal trial into the death of 6 children killed in 2021 in Devonport, Tasmania, ended today. The fatalaties, including 3 serious injuries, happened at Hillcrest Primary School when a bouncy castle was blown 33 feet into the air and landed in a tree 160 feet away. The operator of Taz-Zorb who owned the inflatable Rosemary Ann Gamble was cleared of breaching work safety laws to the anger of parents by a magistrate. It ruled that the 'dust-devil' that hit the bouncy castle killing the children was 'due to an unprecedented weather system that was impossible to predict and avoid'. The victims 4 boys and 2 girls were all pupils aged between 11 and 12. Angry parents shouted at the bouncy castle owner after the verdict who sat quietly sobbing. An investigation by the Journal of Paediatric & Child Health in Australia after the tragedy collated incident from all around the world based on press reports. It found that between 2000 and 2022 that there had been 28 deaths and 484 children and people injured on airborne bouncy castles with a third in China. In 2018 two fairground workers were jailed for 3 years for the bouncy castle manslaughter on grounds of gross negligence after the death of Summer Grant, 7. The schoolgirl was on an inflatable that was blown away with her inside in Harlow, Essex, which cartwheeled 300 yards down a hill across a park and into a tree. In 2004 a 5-year-old boy died falling from a bouncy castle which was blown 20 feet up into the air and onto the pitch of a baseball stadium in Arizona by a gust. In 2006 two women aged 38 and 68 were killed at Riverside Park in Chester —le-Street, County Durham, falling out of an airborne inflatable but 30 survived. In 2024 the 2-year-old son of a Phoenix firefighter was killed when a bouncy castle at a house party in Casa Grand, Arizona, took off in high winds and he fell out. In the UK the Health & Safety Executive says inflatables by law must have at least six anchor points with high quality rope able to take high pressures at all points.
