Emergency teams are on the ground in South Africa’s Free State province after a dam collapsed at an abandoned diamond mine. Disaster management specialists have joined police, engineers and medical first-responders at the Jagersfontein site.
The South African Government said the mine’s tailings had “burst open” causing extensive damage to infrastructure and property. Initial reports suggested a number of injuries and missing people, the Department of Cooperative Governance added. Some reports say that between one to three people are feared to be dead.
The incident happened at 6am local time on Sunday 11 September, and multi-disciplinary teams were promptly sent to the area. Search, rescue, relief and stabilisation operations were soon underway, and it is believed that the flow of water and mud has been halted.
Injured people are being transported to local hospitals, while work is underway to account for all residents of the affected area.
The National Disaster Management Centre is coordinating with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre among other parties on the response to the collapse.
Minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma thanked local leaders for their support and assistance to affected communities. She urged local people to remain calm and help out where they can.
Minerals Council South Africa said it was saddened by the tragedy. The body said the mine shut more than 40 years ago and the cause of the collapse was unknown.
It added that the assets at the mine in Jagersfontein are not owned by any of its members, and that it has no information about the ownership structure or the standard of management of the tailings facilities. The mine was however previously owned by De Beers, a part of Anglo American.
Members of the Minerals Council have been encouraged to review their tailings management operational standards and ensure they are aligned with the International Council on Mining and Metals' Global Standard on Tailings Management. The standard was created following the collapse of the Vale owned Córrego do Feijão tailings dam in Brumadinho, Brazil, in 2019, which killed 270 people.
University of Hull vice-chancellor Dave Petley has analysed the collapse on his landslide blog, including looking at satellite images to estimate that a 1km long pond has been “largely emptied” and “inundated” nearby homes.
Sources: geplus.co.uk, reuters.com
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