* Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at rioting miners
* One miner dead, eight arrested
* Strike costing company $155 million in lost output so far
* Implats shares drop 3.1 percent
By Ed Stoddard
RUSTENBURG, South Africa, Feb 16 (Reuters) – South
African riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water
cannon on Thursday at hundreds of striking miners who went on
the rampage at Impala Platinum’s Rustenburg plant, the
world’s single biggest platinum mine.
At least 50 officers, backed by armoured vehicles and two
helicopters, moved into a shanty town near the mine after the
miners torched homes in a dramatic escalation of a month-long
strike that has hit the company and global platinum prices.
Police said one man had been killed overnight after a mob
stripped him naked and beat him during a demonstration outside
the plant, which accounts for as much as 15 percent of world
platinum output.
Up to 5,000 miners blocked the road leading to the plant,
which lies 120 km (80 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, and
hurled stones at police, provincial police spokeswoman Adele
Myburg said.
Continued…
