PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to visit the Jagersfontein-Charlesville area in the Free State, where a diamond tailings deposition dam has burst its banks, destroying homes, and killing at least one person, the Provincial Disaster Management Centre reported.
Four people have been reported missing following the incident at around dawn on Sunday, 11 September. Twenty-three people have been treated for hypothermia and four for broken bones.
The Department of Cooperative Governance said multi-disciplinary teams consisting of the South African Police Service, emergency medical services, health, disaster management, social development, search and rescue personnel and engineers from the mine are on the scene, where search, rescue, immediate relief, and stabilisation operations are underway.
The National Disaster Management Centre has deployed staff members to assess the damage and impact and to provide direct operational support, in a coordinated effort with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre, the department added.
Minerals Council South Africa said
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