A GOLD panner died and four others escaped unhurt after a Bulawayo City Council quarry pit in Parklands suburb collapsed on them while they were illegal mining gold.
The incident occurred yesterday morning at corner of Cecil
Drive and Coglan Avenue.
The gold panners discovered that the gravel from the quarry
pit that was being used to rehabilitate a section of Cecil Drive had gold hence
they were now searching for gold in the pit.
There are heaps of gravel
from the quarry pit along Cecil Drive whuich is being rehabilitated by
the council.
The discovery of the gold in the gravel has attracted many
gold panners who operate mainly under the cover of darkness.
When a Chronicle news crew visited the site of the incident
yesterday at about 11AM, the body was yet to be collected.
Two gold panners were on site together with police officers
conducting investigations.
One of the panners said he knew the deceased as they had
previously worked together at Queens in Inyathi, Bubi District.
“I wasn’t here when it happened but as a gold panner when
you hear that a shaft has collapsed, you
rush to find out who was involved.
“When we came here we were told that one person died while
four others survived,” said a gold panner who did not want to be identified.
He said he positively identified the victim who comes from
Lupane.
The gold panner also assisted police officers in contacting
the deceased’s family.
He said the shaft collapsed when the panners were working
underground.
“This is a council pit so these guys were operating
illegally. These are some of the hazards that we face as we try to eke a
living. Do I quit because of this? No. Do you stop driving because there has
been an accident? So, to me this was just an accident at work,” he said.
He said the panners discovered that there was gold in the
area when they found gold nuggets in the gravel that the council is using to
rehabilitate the road.
Bulawayo deputy police spokesperson Assistant Inspector
Nomalanga Msebele confirmed the incident.
“We received a report that an illegal gold miner died while
four others escaped when they city council quarry shaft collapsed on them this
morning.
“The gold panners illegally entered the quarry pit and
started digging for gold, unfortunately the shaft collapsed on them leading to
the death of the panner,” said Asst Insp Msebele.
She said the four who escaped, disappeared from the scene.
Asst Insp Msebele warned gold panners against mining at
undesignated areas.
Bulawayo has several gold deposits around the city and
council has issued mining licenses in some areas.
Council said recently that gold panners had invaded
Woodlands while threatening Insiza/Inyankuni pipeline servitude and a tail of
Umzingwane dam.
“Illegal mining activities are being conducted in
Woodlands, about 1km off the Ncema Treatment Works access road.
“The illegal mining activity have also been observed on the
servitudes of the Flowserve, Sulzer and the 30inch clear water pipelines from
Ncema Treatment Works to Fernhill Booster Station.
“The closest mining shafts were 5m and 11m away from the
pipelines – within the 30m red-zone reserved as servitude for pipeline
activity, repair works and maintenance,” read the recent council minutes.
According to the minutes, Town Clerk Mr Dube said urgent
attention needs to be taken as the situation has got out of hand.
Mr Dube said water flows were being blocked during the
mining process resulting in little or no flow at all to council dams.
He suggested that, if possible, no mining claims be offered
in affected areas.
The sealed entranced to the quarry pit that caved in
Council rangers, police officers and the Environmental
Management Agency have on several occasions raided the gold panners but this
has not been deterrent enough.
Farmers are also counting losses due to the operations of
the gold panners as some of their cattle fall into unclaimed pits they leave
behind. Chronicle
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