Underground fire kills 9 miners in South Africa

Nine miners died when an underground fire broke out at a platinum mine in northern South Africa, a spokeswoman for the mine spokeswoman said.
The fire at Northam Platinum mine near the town of Thabazimbie was detected about 2,100 metres (6,930 feet) underground in the early hours on Monday, Marion Brower said.
"They found the body of the first miner earlier today and around lunch, rescue teams found the bodies of eight others," she said, adding that the fire started around 1:00 am (2300 GMT).
Forty-six other workers were safely brought to the surface, Brower added.
A detailed investigation had been launched, but it was believed that the fire started on a conveyor belt.
All mining operations have been halted at the mine, about 250 kilometres (150 miles) north-west of Johannesburg, said Brower.
Platinum is one of South Africa's premier commodities and is mainly exploited in deep level mines in the north of the country.