Police open fire on miners in South Africa

Damn what is wrong with the world
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bfb_1345136218
[8/16/2012] South African riot police opened fire on striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, killing at least a dozen men in the deadliest episode of a week of union violence.

Heavily armed officers backed by armored vehicles were laying out barbed wire barricades when they were outflanked by some of the estimated 3,000 miners massed on a rocky outcrop near the mine.

Police opened fire with automatic weapons on a group of men who burst out from behind a vehicle. The volley of bullets threw up clouds of dust, which cleared to reveal at least seven bodies lying on the ground.

It was not clear whether the police were fired upon. They appeared to be on edge and with rifles pointing forwards immediately before the incident. Reuters photographs showed spears and clubs lying near the bodies.

The SAPA domestic news agency said one of its reporters had counted 18 bodies near a squatter camp close to the mine, Lonmin's flagship platinum plant, which was forced to shut down on Tuesday because of the union unrest.

There has been no confirmation the death toll.














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Uhh I agree that the situation could have been handled better, but these fucking savages rushing people with spears and clubs didn't have the brains to think "hey maybe they will FUCKING SHOOT ME".

Darwins at its FINEST.

 

Thats pretty damn fucked up, aint gonna lie.

I don't think killing them was the appropriate way to deal with the situation...

 

Definitely not the right thing to do... but then again, what would happen if the police didn't open fire? They would probably get out-numbered and beaten to death by the enraged miners too.

 

Well I wonder whT the best way to handle that would have been and what the locals think

 

It's the same way it would have been handled here. If a group of people with weapons came running at police officers with every intent to kill them, they would be shot dead. They got what they deserved.

They might have been able to stop them in a non lethal way at some point leading up to this, but at this moment when this happened, they did the right thing.

 

It was the right thing to do.