Mining ringleader escaped during S Africa disaster ‘with help from officers’

Mine rescue workers at an abandoned gold mine (Themba Hadebe/AP)

A suspected illegal gold mining ringleader known as “Tiger” escaped from custody with help from police officers after resurfacing last week from a disused mine in South Africa where dozens of miners died and 246 were rescued, authorities said.

Police said that the suspect — identified as Lesotho national James Neo Tshoaeli but commonly known as “Tiger” — was among those who came out of the mine near the town of Stilfontein during a rescue operation last week following a months-long stand-off between police and men digging for gold illegally.