Miners try to gather at scene of shoot-out
2012-08-17 19:01
Video
2012-08-17 17:00
Relatives of protesting Marikana mineworkers have gathered at Lonmin's hospital to search for their loved ones after more than 30 miners were shot dead in a confrontation with the police. WATCH.WATCH
Johannesburg - Several hundred men have begun to gather at the outskirts of a rocky outcrop at the Lonmin mine in Rustenburg on Friday afternoon after 34 armed protesters were shot there this week.
According to reports at the scene, the men held a meeting inside a nearby village earlier in the afternoon.
After their meeting the men tried to make their way to a hill where a shootout occurred between protesting mineworkers and police on Thursday.
However, the men were cut off by the police. They eventually kept their distance at the edge of the village.
After the men emerged, a group of women who were protesting against the police in the afternoon began to take off their clothes.
"They are showing the police that they are not afraid of them and that they don't have respect for them anymore," Mmatshepiso Mohlomi, one of women at the scene said.
The group of women sang: "I have given birth to a child and the police have killed him".
Several helicopters circled the area throughout the day.
- SAPA
