10 S. African Gold Miners Die in Fire
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From Reuters
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A fire in a gold mine shaft killed 10 South African miners and injured 22, a spokesman for the owners, Anglo-American Corp., said Friday.
The 10 died of asphyxiation after the fire broke out more than 1.2 miles underground Thursday night at the Vaal Reef mine near Orkney, southwest of Johannesburg.
The cause of the blaze was being investigated.
Hundreds of miners, most of them black, die in South African mines each year. Union leaders accuse management of lax safety standards, a charge the mine owners deny.
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