At least five miners in South Africa were killed Sunday following an underground fire, the government said, while a rescue operation was ongoing for the sole survivor.

A conveyor belt at a mine operated by Palabora Copper in northeastern Limpopo province caught fire, trapping the six staff underground, the company said in a statement.

“Five employees have now been confirmed dead at Palabora Mining. The search for one employee continues,” wrote South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources on its Twitter account.

“An investigation will commence once the last remaining employee is found and the fire underground has been contained and the area declared safe.”

In its statement, Palabora Copper said that “mine management, officials from the Department of Mineral Resources and organised labour are currently on the mine investigating the cause of the incident”.

South Africa has been rocked by several fatal accidents at its economically vital mines since the beginning of the year.

Four miners were killed following an incident at a gold mine operated by Sibanye Stillwater last month.

Earlier this year, 955 workers at another Sibanye gold mine were trapped underground for more than a day after a power outage caused by storm. They were rescued unharmed. </s> JOHANNESBURG, July 15 (Reuters) - Five miners died on Sunday in a fire at a South African copper mine operated by unlisted Palabora Mining Company, the company said in a statement.

The company said the incident occurred in the early hours on Sunday at one of its underground conveyer belts and that mine management, government officials and organised labour were investigating. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard. Editing by Jane Merriman) </s> Five miners died and one remains missing following a fire at a South African copper mine on Sunday

According to the South African Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the fire broke out at 1.25am local time (12.25am BST) on Sunday morning at the Palabora Mining Company in Limpopo, north of Johannesburg.

The AMCU commented on the deaths, saying: “AMCU mourns the death of five trapped workers in a burning copper mine.

“One mineworker remains trapped after a fire broke out underground in the early hours of this morning, and one worker is recovering in hospital.

“AMCU prays for the safe evacuation of the remaining mineworker and sends its condolences to the loved ones of those who passed away.”

The fire reportedly started at conveyor belt number 5 and workers were ordered to evacuate to the closest refuge chamber. </s> A sixth miner has died after Sunday’s accident at a copper mine in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province. Reports says a conveyor belt caught fire.

Miners were then instructed to evacuate to the closest refuge chamber as temperatures “rose to [between] 64 and 67 degrees Celsius, [which] made the rescue efforts impossible,” news site IOL quotes a statement from the Associated Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

There were 200 workers underground at the mine, owned by the Phalaborwa Mining Company, when the fire broke out, most of whom were safely brought to the surface.

Some of them have been receiving treatment in nearby hospitals. The mine is in the northern Limpopo province, one of the poorest areas in South Africa.

The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) called mine companies to put lives ahead of profits.

In a statement it said: “As the Num, we vehemently condemn this kind of incident as there is a high number of fatalities in the mining industry in South Africa this year.”

“We call upon employers to put lives of mineworkers first so that we can be able to achieve zero harm and zero death in the mining industry.”

Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe sent condolence messages to the families of miners who died. </s> JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Five miners died on Sunday in a fire at a South African copper mine operated by unlisted Palabora Mining Company, the company said in a statement.

Safety is a huge issue in South Africa’s deep and dangerous mines and increasingly a focus for investors. A spate of deaths at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations, including a seismic event that killed seven miners in early May, has highlighted the risks they face.

Palabora said the latest incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday at one of its underground conveyer belts, and that mine management, government officials and organised labour were on the scene investigating.

South Africa is not a major copper producer and most fatal accidents occur in its deep-level gold and platinum mines. </s> (CNN) Five miners died in a South African copper mine Sunday after a fire trapped the workers underground, the country's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union said.

One miner was still trapped in the Phalaborwa Mining Company in Limpopo, north of Johannesburg, the union said.

The fire began on Sunday around 1:25 a.m., according to the union. The workers were ordered to evacuate to the nearest refugee chamber, a protective chamber, the union said.

MEDIA RELEASE: AMCU MOURNS DEATH OF FIVE TRAPPED WORKERS IN BURNING COPPER MINE. AMCU has learnt with sadness of the death of five workers at Phalaborwa Mining Company. pic.twitter.com/w5lYIv3wv7 — Amcu (@_AMCU) July 15, 2018

A team later found the bodies of two miners, and a survivor, but high temperatures, which reached 67 degrees Celsius (roughly 152 degrees Fahrenheit), made rescue efforts difficult, the union said. The bodies of three mine workers were later recovered from the chamber, the union said.

The injured worker was taken to a hospital, according to the union.

Read More </s> JOHANNESBURG: Five people have been killed by a gas explosion in an unused coal mine in South Africa`s eastern province of Mpumalanga and several others remain trapped, police said on Thursday.

 State broadcaster SABC said about 20 people were still stuck underground at the mine in Middleburg.

Rescue efforts were hampered by dangerously high levels of toxic gas underground, SABC said. The mine is owned by Tegeta Resources and Exploration, which is undergoing creditor protection after its owners, the Gupta brothers, found it difficult to continue doing business in South Africa following corruption allegations against them.

Several people had entered the mine on Wednesday afternoon to steal copper wires that supply electricity for lighting and ventilation when a gas pipe exploded, police spokesman Leonard Hlati said.

 "The mine is wired with copper. They were going for copper," Hlati said.

Copper is often stolen from disused mines in South Africa and sold for scrap. The Gupta brothers, their lawyers and officials from their firms and family representatives could not be reached for comment about the mine incident.

The brothers - who headed what was one of the country`s biggest conglomerates - were accused of unduly influencing former president Jacob Zuma over political appointments and winning contracts.

 Zuma and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing. </s> JOHANNESBURG: South African police said Thursday that five people had died after trespassing into a disused mine, with local media reporting the deaths were caused by a gas explosion.

At least 20 people are believed to be still trapped underground at the Gloria coal mine near the town of Middelburg in the eastern province of Mpumalanga after entering the shafts to try to steal cables.

"So far we have five killed," police spokesman Leonard Hlathi told AFP, saying he had no number of those trapped.

State broadcaster SABC said experts had launched a rescue operation to search for more than 20 people trapped underground.

It added that the group went underground to steal copper cables in the mine, which has been closed for several months.

Police said the group went into the mine between Sunday and Wednesday, and that rescue efforts were being hampered by unsafe conditions and a lack of ventilation.

The body of one person who died was taken out on Wednesday and the other four bodies were recovered on Thursday. </s> (Bloomberg) -- South African labor unions said the government and mining industry failed to take adequate steps to improve worker safety, as six people died in a fire at a copper mine.

A sixth body was recovered at Palabora Mining Co.’s mine in Limpopo province, after a blaze erupted at an underground conveyor belt early on Sunday, Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union, said by phone.

“We want more accountability” and other measures in order to improve safety, he said.

The fatalities at Palabora add to at least 47 reported mine deaths so far this year in South Africa. A focus on safety has mainly fallen on Sibanye Gold Ltd., whose mines have claimed 21 in the country. Sibanye, labor unions and the Department of Mineral Resources last month pledged to form a plan of action to address health and safety.

“We vehemently condemn this kind of incident as there is a high number of fatalities in the mining industry in South Africa this year,” the National Union of Mineworkers said Monday in an emailed statement. “We further urge the Department of Mineral Resources, which is the regulator, to play its role in ensuring that mines are safe and put the safety of the mineworkers as a priority.”

Palabora Mining operates an underground mine that produces 80,000 metric tons of copper ore a year, according to the company’s website. It was sold by Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American Plc to a consortium of investors including Hebei Iron & Steel Group Mining Co., China’s largest steelmaker, in a deal concluded in 2013.

The Department of Mineral Resources said it would issue a statement later on Monday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net;Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Kingdon at ckingdon@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Liezel Hill
A fire in a copper mine in Limpopo, South Africa kills five and traps a sixth.