The death toll of miners killed at Sibanye-Stillwater's Masakhane mine, after employees got trapped underground on Friday due to seismic activity in the area, has risen to seven.
Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted, said all thirteen employees who were trapped underground at their Masakhane mine, Driefontein Operations, had been recovered by mine rescue personnel.
"Regrettably, the last three employees who were recovered passed away from their injuries, bringing the total number of fatalities as a result of the seismic event to seven," he said.
Wellsted said the six employees who had been successfully rescued had all been admitted to hospital and were in a stable condition.
"The families of the employees have been contacted and are receiving the necessary support and counselling," he said.
Wellsted said the board and management of Sibanye-Stillwater expressed their sincere condolences to the friends and families of the deceased employees and those affected by the tragic event.
"A thorough investigation by management and the Department of Mineral Resources, and other stakeholders will be performed and all efforts will be made to prevent incidents of this nature [from] occurring in future," said Wellsted.
"We thank everyone involved in the rescue operations, especially the mine rescue teams and our own employees, who have worked tirelessly for the last two-and-a-half days to rescue our colleagues under extremely challenging conditions," he said.