Death toll climbs to 13 in South Africa mining disaster

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The death toll from a mining tragedy last week in South Africa that involved an elevator has risen to 13 people after a worker died at a hospital, the mine operator said Monday.

Impala Platinum said that the worker died Sunday from injuries sustained when the elevator plummeted around 650 feet down the shaft of a platinum mine while carrying workers to the surface after their shift on Nov. 27. Eleven workers died that day, while the latest victim was the second mineworker to die at a hospital.

11 DEAD, SCORES INJURED AFTER SOUTH AFRICAN MINE ELEVATOR PLUMMETS 650 FEET

The mine operator said that 50 workers remained hospitalized, with eight of them in critical care.

A general view of the 11 shaft at Impala Platinum mine near Rustenburg on November 28, 2023. (Phil Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)

Impala Platinum and the South African government announced an investigation into what mine officials called a highly unusual tragedy.

The industrial elevator was carrying 86 workers to the surface when it suddenly dropped back down into the shaft, which is about a ½-mile deep. The mine in the northern city of Rustenburg was the world's biggest platinum producer last year. South Africa is by far the world's biggest platinum-producing country.

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Impala Platinum said it would hold a day of remembrance on Wednesday, when it would release the names of the workers who died.