Only weeks after the community of Jagersfontein in the Free State was devastated by the collapse of a mining dam, another dam wall collapsed on Tuesday, 27 September.
The collapse appears to have been caused by heavy rains in the area. No fatalities have been reported and the dam contained only water.
Another mine dam wall has collapsed at the troubled Jagersfontein mine.
Kopanong mayor Xolani Tseletsele says the situation could have been as result of earlier heavy downpours in the area.
The water is running through the neighbourhood #MDNnews #jagersfontein pic.twitter.com/YCHm83x6V2
— MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) September 27, 2022
Richard Spoor, the lawyer representing 30 families affected by the first wall collapse, told EWN that this incident could have been prevented. ‘The inner wall and compartment that didn’t collapse were weakened and then there was a real risk of it collapsing and coincidently, I wrote to the mine yesterday and asked for assurances of the measures taken to prevent it from collapsing but clearly too late,’ Spoor said.
Authorities said that the current water flow does not pose any danger to the community. ‘It is understood that the water is running through the neighbourhood of Charlesville and the nearby Dennis Louw farm,’ said Free State premier Sefora Ntombela according to TimesLive.
The R706 is closed to traffic. Motorists are advised to use an alternative gravel road to Fauresmith to access Jagersfontein.
Government will take legal action against Jagersfontein Developments, the owner of the mining dam that collapsed earlier this month.
Picture: Screenshot
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