Although the blast took place over a month ago, details are only now being revealed. Authorities said the victims are believed to be "zama zamas," or illegal miners, from the tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho.
At least 31 people are believed to have died in a methane explosion at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa last month, officials said on Friday.
The incident occurred on May 18 in a ventilation shaft at the Virginia gold mine outside Welkom, some 260 kilometers (160 miles) from Johannesburg.
But the details of what the government called "a unique and strange situation" are only now coming to light.
