Police fired on machete-wielding workers engaged in a wildcat strike at a platinum mine in South Africa on Thursday, leaving a field strewn with dead and wounded men and a nation stunned that what began as a fairly routine labor dispute could turn so bloody.
There was no official word on the death toll. At least six bodies were visible after the shooting ended, but police did not release a figure. SAPA, South Africa's main news agency, reported that 18 people had been killed. Ten other people had already died as a result of violence around the strike, which began Friday when thousands of workers stormed off the job, demanding the higher wages.
The police opened up with a water cannon first, then used stun grenades and tear gas to try and break up the crowd but suddenly, gunfire broke out.
Am sure this incident must have reminded some South Africans of the days when the police of the apartheid government opened fire on protest.
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