At least 14 suspected illegal miners were killed and eight injured when a mine dump collapsed in South ‌Africa’s North West province on Monday night, police said. Search and rescue operations are under way for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site ⁠near Rustenburg, provincial police commissioner Arthur Peter Adams said. The collapse ‌occurred as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a ‌disused dump on a private company’s site, Adams ⁠said. Rubber boots believed to belong to illegal miners lay near a shaft entrance at a disused mine near Rustenburg, North West province, South Africa. Illegal ‌mining has ‌plagued South Africa for decades, ranging from ‌small-scale theft to operations run by organised criminal networks.