Rescue workers are fighting a titanic battle against the fire that has engulfed Harmony Gold's Doornkop shaft near Soweto, the site of South Africa's worst mining accident in five years.
The mine said it had found the bodies of eight miners, trapped underground since Tuesday when a seismic event triggered the fire.
The men have been identified, but emergency workers have not yet brought the bodies to the surface. One worker is still unaccounted for.
The fire, fuelled by wooden support beams underground, has been raging out of control since Tuesday.
Harmony Gold CEO Graham Briggs said yesterday the delay in bringing up the miners' bodies was because "the rescue team is compelled to collect evidence that will be used during investigations".
Briggs said the fire caused further rockfalls below ground on Wednesday.
Company chairman Patrice Motsepe - who greeted workers with the "amandla" salute before he addressed them - said the deaths had caused his heart to bleed.
"We were confident that they were going to come out alive. The safety bays were meant to deal with these eventualities. Our hearts are bleeding blood. Our people's lives are more important than money," Motsepe said.
He said the mining industry would have a bleak future unless it recommitted itself to improving the safety of workers.
Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu said the cause of the blaze would be investigated.
Five of the workers came from the Eastern Cape, one from Mozambique, one from Lesotho, one from Swaziland and one from Mpumalanga.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
