22 miners are reported to have been trapped underground at a mine site in South Africa.
Local media reports that the miners are believed to be Lesotho nationals. They were trapped after an explosion in Middelburg in Mpumalanga.
The Citizen reported on Wednesday that a group of 42 Lesotho nationals had allegedly gone underground to steal cables.
During that process a gas explosion took place collapsing the mine on these Lesotho nationals.
20 members of the people were able to escape to safety but 22 others were trapped underground.
South African media News24 reports that a search-and-rescue operation has been sanctioned to help those trapped.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Colonel Mtsholi Bhembe was reported by News24 as not being aware of the incident.
Meanwhile the said mine which has collapsed on the miners had been abandoned since September last year.
Source: Africafeeds.com