HUNDREDS of miners were being held underground by a group of workers from an unregistered rival union for a second day today at a gold mine in South Africa.

Some 15 miners have been injured in scuffles, the head of the mine said today.

Details on the event remain unclear and there were conflicting statements about what happened.

New Kleinfontein Gold Mine company chief executive Jon Hericourt said that miners from the unregistered union prevented hundreds of others from leaving after their night shift ended at the Modder East mine in Springs, east of Johannesburg, on Monday.

Police were deployed but they have not been in contact with anyone underground.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the sole recognised union at the mine, said that more than 500 of its members were being held against their will.

Union representative Mlulameli Mweli said there were also female mine employees trapped underground, saying: “NUM calls for the law enforcement agencies in South Africa to intervene and go underground and arrest the hooligans who are holding our members against their will.”

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union said that most of the employees were holding a protest to force the mine to recognise the union.