South African gold mine says 8 miners died in underground fire caused by earthquake

JOHANNESBURG – A South African gold-mining company says it has found the bodies of eight miners who were trapped when a magnitude-2.4 earthquake triggered an underground fire. Rescue teams are trying to locate a ninth miner who is missing.

The Harmony company said Thursday that the tremor also triggered a rockfall about 1.7 kilometers (one mile) underground at the Doornkop mine, west of Johannesburg. Searchers responding to the fire on Tuesday were hampered by smoke and the earthfall.

On Wednesday, rescue teams located eight other miners who had sought refuge from the fire and brought them to the surface.