Eight dead in South African gold mine accident

South African rescuers have recovered eight bodies after a fire and rock fall at Harmony Gold's Doornkop mine near Johannesburg and one other miner remained missing, the government said on Thursday.

The incident is the most serious accident in South Africa's mines since nine workers died in a rock fall at a platinum mine in July 2009.

"The situation is deeply regrettable," Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said in a statement. "We must ensure that we do all we can to get to the bottom of what caused this incident in order to prevent similar occurrences in future.
However the search continues for the ninth employee.