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Johannesburg – Efforts are underway to rescue a 5-year-old boy trapped inside a disused mine shaft in the Jerusalem informal settlement, Boksburg, on Monday.
"We are going to use a drone to fly over the area to assess the stability of the ground," Ekurhuleni Emergency Services spokesperson Vincent Khoza told News24.
He said when they went down on Sunday, there was no sign of the child.
READ: Boy, 5, stuck in disused mine shaft since Saturday
On Monday afternoon, locals flocked to the shaft. They stood near the shaft, watching and waiting for any news. Some sang gospel songs, while others drank beer.
The boy fell into the hole sometime between 12:00 and 13:00 on Saturday.
Rescue South Africa helped with the operation, but the rescue was called off later that day due to the unstable ground.
The boy's family had said they last saw him when he was going to play with friends, Khoza said.
"When we went to his mother, she said he went out to play. One of his friends told us that he fell into the shaft."
Residents then alerted emergency services.
