南非警察向罢工矿工开枪造成至少30死亡

South Africa\'s police ministry says at least 30 people were killed Thursday, when officers opened fire on striking workers at a platinum mine.

A ministry official said Friday that police opened fire with automatic weapons at the Lonmin PLC mine, about 120 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg.

Around 3,000 people have walked off the job in the past week over a pay dispute.  Lonmin issued a statement earlier Thursday, warning workers they would be dismissed if they did not return to work by Friday.   After the clashes, the management issued a statement saying some of the strikers were armed.

Prior to Thursday\'s deadly clash, 10 people, including two police officers had been killed in violence related to the mine strike.

Lonmin is the world\'s third largest platinum producer. 

南非警备部官员星期五说，警察使用自动武器向隆明公司铂金矿的工人开枪。这座铂金矿位于约翰内斯堡西北方大约120公里。

这场罢工是薪酬争端引起的，大约3千名工人参加了罢工。隆明公司星期四早些时候发表声明警告工人说，如果他们不复工，就将被开除。冲突结束后，该矿管理机构发表声明说，一些罢工工人带有武器。

在星期四的冲突之前，与矿工罢工有关的暴力冲突已经造成十人死亡，其中包括两名警察。

隆明公司的铂金出产量位居世界第三。