Two artisanal miners are feared dead after a mine shaft
they were working in collapsed on Tuesday morning in Shamva.
The accident occurred at Lumbo18 Zuze Syndicate Mine. National
Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the accident
in a statement.
“Two men Serima Luckson and another one who is yet to be
identified are believed to have been trapped and buried in a collapsed mine in
Shamva in a mishap that occurred on February 24 at around 0300hrs. The two men
were seen entering the mine three hours earlier by a security guard,” Asst Comm
Nyathi said.
He said efforts are underway to retrieve the bodies from
the 15-metre-deep shaft. “The shaft which is about 15 meters deep collapsed and
the two were trapped. Police and officials from the Ministries of Mines and
Mining Development are carrying out efforts to retrieve the bodies of the two.”
Cases of miners being trapped in mine shafts have been on
the increase with many of them affecting illegal gold miners. Earlier this
month, two illegal miners died and two others were injured, while more than 20
others were trapped underground after a tunnel at Globe and Phoenix Mine in
Kwekwe collapsed.
It also emerged that Globe and Phoenix Mine had ceased
operations in 2007 following an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which
showed the shafts, most of which were right underneath Kwekwe central business
district (CBD) were posing danger to the city. Two months ago, about four
miners at Esikhoveni Mine in Esigodini, Matabeleland South Province, died after
a movable cabin they were working in collapsed and fell into a 62-metre mine
shaft.
Earlier last year about twenty-three illegal miners died
when interlinked shafts and tunnels at two mines in Battlefields were flooded
after the collapse of a dam wall due to heavy rains received in the area. The
dam wall reportedly collapsed and flooded shafts at the RioZim-owned Cricket
Mine and another one owned by a Mr Baxter.
The two mines have three linked shafts said to be 30 metres
deep with 20 metre-wide tunnels. The incident was declared a national disaster.
Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment