At least 11 miners died on Monday (27) at the Impal Platinum mine (Implats) in Rustenburg, in northwestern South Africa, after a cable in the elevator that was used to transport them to the surface snapped, precipitating the fall of the middle part of the mine..

South Africa employs thousands of Mozambicans in mines and pharmas, but as of this writing there had been no reports of national victims.

The mine's spokesman, Johan Theron, revealed that the incident happened on Monday and that the work to rescue the survivors continues.

"I can confirm that yesterday afternoon (Monday), during the normal shift change procedure, the personnel transport also known as the cage, was moving upwards, but unexpectedly started to slide," said Johan Theron.

According to the source, "the emergency protocol was immediately activated, but was unable to arrest the falling vehicle".

In a statement issued on Monday evening (27), Implats announced that the incident had been caused by a coiling rope.

"This rope is connected to the transportation of personnel up and down the shaft. The transport comprises three levels, each with the capacity to carry 35 people," says the Implats press release.

At least 64 people were admitted to local hospitals, 22 to the private Implats hospital and 42 to different public and private hospitals in Rustenburg.

According to IOL, Theron said that the incident was so unusual and tragic and that the transportation system used to transport miners in South Africa is similar to that in other parts of the world.

According to Theron, the personnel transport elevator has a capacity of up to 130 people on three levels, and there were 88 workers in it who were to be transported to the surface when the incident occurred.

All mining operations in Impala Rustenburg have been suspended for at least Tuesday.