How many people died at marikana mine

Register Sign In. South Africa. More Marikana shooting victims have since died, others still surprised they survived massacre. The lawyer representing the Lonmin mineworkers who were shot dead, injured and arrested says his clients are still awaiting compensation. Image: Reuters. Since then, more workers have died as a result of the shooting. In the meantime, Nkhome said, many of his clients continued to live with pain and suffering.

Sometimes he calls in the middle of the night and says 'I cannot believe I am still alive' Lawyer Andries Nkhome says of his conversations with one Lonmin mineworker who survived the August massacre. Farlam chaired an inquiry into the Marikana killings and completed the report in Unions are demanding an inquiry into the incident - one of the bloodiest police operations since apartheid. The Lonmin-owned platinum mine has been at the centre of a violent pay dispute, exacerbated by tensions between two rival trade unions.

Violence had already killed 10 people, including two police officers, since the strike began a week ago. Some of the strikers' wives gathered near the mine on Friday, chanting anti-police songs and demanding to know what had happened to their husbands.

South African President Jacob Zuma has cut short a trip to Mozambique in order to visit the mine, which lies about km 62 miles north-west of Johannesburg. The circumstances that led police to open fire remain unclear, but reports from eyewitnesses suggest the shooting took place after a group of demonstrators rushed at a line of police officers.

Police, armed with automatic rifles and pistols, fired dozens of shots, witnesses said. One witness, Molaole Montsho, of the South African news agency Sapa, said police had first used water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades in an attempt to break up the protest.

David Nkolisi, 37, who works as a rock-drill operator, told the BBC: "We were killed for asking our employer to pay us a decent salary for hard work deep underground.

At a news conference on Friday, Ms Phiyega said police had been forced to open fire to protect themselves. She said people had been arrested on various charges. A spokesman said President Zuma would be travelling to the site later on Friday. While police had claimed self-defence over the shooting of the workers, the inquiry found that officers had delayed getting medical assistance to injured strikers, and at least one man might have otherwise survived.

A total of 44 people were killed during the six-week strike at the Marikana mine by workers seeking higher wages, with the violence fuelled by rivalry between labour unions.

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