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South Africa to probe killing of mine workers

ReutersPolicemen look on Friday as women protest the killing of 34 miners Thursday in Rustenburg, 62 miles northwest of Johannesburg. Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega said officers were forced to open fire to protect themselves from charging armed protesters.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- South Africa's president launched a formal investigation into the cause of violence at a platinum mine that has left more 34 people dead and 78 injured, according to reports.

Families of many of the victims are still unable to locate relatives, while police say they are trying to create a central registry of victims, the BBC reported Saturday. At least 200 were arrested.

A strike for higher wages at Lonmin PLC's (LMI) Marikana mine turned violent Thursday, in what police claimed was self-defense despite video recordings suggesting the protesters were not attacking them but running from clouds of tear gas, according to the Associated Press.

ABC News called it the deadliest protest since strife of the apartheid era of enforced racial segregation that ended almost 20 years ago..

South African President Jacob Zuma cut short a regional summit to visit the mine and visit injured miners in hospitals, report said.

The incident sent platinum futures higher during the week. South Africa produces 80% of the world's platinum. Read story on platinum, South Africa.