- Editor's note: This is a developing story. We will bring you updates as more information becomes available.
JOHANNESBURG - Rescue operations have been called off at the Rand Lease Mine in Roodepoort.
Efforts to retrieve trapped miners were halted due to safety concerns.
Joburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the rescuers went down seven metres and reached a makeshift platform.
"There was a hole leading to makeshift stairs. That area is dangerous for rescuers," he said.
"We will find a way to get information which may lead us to the main hole they may be using to see whether we can access the same shaft."
Last month, over 1,000 illegal miners and the bodies of 78 others were pulled out of an abandoned mine shaft in Stilfontein in the North West.