Miners found dead at a disused mine in South Africa

The collapse occurred on Monday as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a disused dump on a private company's site, Adams said.

The ⁠injured miners are ‌from neighbouring Lesotho while the citizenship ​of those ‌killed has yet to be confirmed.

Illegal mining has ​plagued South Africa for decades, ranging from small-scale theft to operations run by organised criminal networks.

Undocumented ​miners ​often enter ​abandoned commercial mines to extract remaining ‌deposits, sometimes under the control of gangs.

Illegal mining costs the government and mining industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost ​sales, taxes and royalties.