South Africa Gas Leak Blamed on Illegal Gold Processing Kills 17, Including Children

The death toll from a toxic gas discharge blamed on an illegal gold processing operation in South Africa rose to 17, including three children, as police removed canisters from a densely populated shack community and combed through evidence on Thursday.

Wednesday night, a toxic nitrate gas release occurred in the informal Angelo settlement in Boksburg, a city on Johannesburg's eastern outskirts.

Toxic Gas Leak in South Africa Kills at Least 17 People

The three deceased children were aged 1, 6, and 15, according to the police. At least ten individuals were hospitalized, including a two-month-old infant, two four-year-olds, and a nine-year-old, according to Gauteng province premier Panyaza Lesufi, who provided an update on Thursday.

Per Fox News, a statement from the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described the loss of innocent lives as "devastating and tragic."

Several bodies, some covered with linens or blankets, remained on the ground for hours after the gas release was reported around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, as emergency personnel waited for forensic investigators and pathologists to complete their work.

A journalist from the Associated Press witnessed a forensic investigator concealing a small child's corpse with a blanket. Under a strip of yellow police tape that cordoned off the area rested a second corpse wrapped in a white cloth with a shoe sticking out. The bodies were ultimately removed.

For the night, search teams scoured the area for additional potential casualties. Police opened a criminal investigation, but authorities did not specify if the illicit gold processing believed to have caused the gas release was among the deceased.

The investigators navigated through dark alleys between shacks and other makeshift dwellings, a common occurrence in the profoundly indigent informal settlements of South Africa's urban areas, as per CNN.

According to SABC, an additional death occurred at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in the early hours of the morning, as confirmed by Lesufi. Local media reported that children are among the deceased and that search and rescue operations are ongoing.

The informal settlement's leaking gas cylinder contained nitrate oxide, according to Disaster and Emergency Management Services spokesperson William Ntlad.

Ntladi reported that emergency services received the contact shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday local time. According to his initial investigation, the spill may have been caused by illicit mining in the area. Search and rescue teams were still scouring the area to determine the severity of the casualties.

South African's Illegal Mining

According to a report by the South African Human Rights Commission, as many as 30,000 illegal miners are operating in South Africa, and hundreds have perished in mine shaft collapses, gas leaks, and conflicts between illegal miners and laborers employed by mine owners.

Ntladi stated that the fatalities were caused by a gas cylinder discharge in the Angelo settlement shack. He reported that the discharge had ceased, and teams were scouring a 100-meter radius around the cylinder for additional victims.

The bodies were still lying on the ground "in and around the area," according to Ntladi, and forensic investigators and pathologists were en route to the crime site.

Per The Guardian, the increase in illegal mining has been attributed to the country's high unemployment rate and the downfall of the mining industry due to depleted reserves, a drop in commodity prices, rising labor costs, and unreliable electricity.

Illegal gold mining has remained widespread in South Africa, costing the country millions of dollars annually. They comprise thousands of illicit miners who throng Johannesburg's abandoned gold mines and are known as "zama zamas."

Last month, the country's Department of Mineral and Energy Resources reported that approximately 31 suspected illicit miners from neighboring Lesotho had perished in a ventilation tunnel in the Free State province.