Pretoria - The number of bodies of illegal miners discovered at the Eland shaft at the Harmony Gold Mine in the Free State has risen to 61.
According to Tom Smith, Chief Operating Officer at the mine, there could be about 15 more bodies still trapped underground.
"We do not know exactly how many people were involved, but it seems it was a big number," he said.
A fire broke out in the mine shaft where illegal miners were digging for gold at the weekend. On Monday, 36 bodies were brought to the surface by a group of illegal miners. It has been reported that the bodies are badly decomposed.
The bodies have not all been identified.
Harmony Gold had recently beefed up their efforts to improve security at the mine. A total of 296 illegal miners were arrested as a result.
Earlier this week, Mining Minister Susan Shabangu visited the mine and expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.
