A total of 15 artisanal miners, registered under Metallon
Gold’s Redwing Mine operating in the Tsapauta area of Penhalonga, were trapped
in a collapsed mineshaft last week on Thursday, and only emerged from the
ground on Sunday.
After spending four days underground, without any clue of
whether they would ever see the light of the day again, while surviving on tree
roots and at one point covered waist-high in water amid fierce howling gales,
the 15 remain eager to get back to work.
The first to emerge from the shaft on Sunday afternoon, who
was the team leader given his experience in the field, 33-year-old Goodson
Madimutsa said: “Most of us, if not all, are still looking forward to going
back to work. This was an accident and luckily because of God’s will, we
survived. We will go back to gold mining and fend for our families.”
While some of the survivors are locals, others trace their
roots to Gokwe, Macheke and Concession.
Under normal circumstances, the artisanal miners go deep
down for their work and come out to have food.
This means they do not carry any edible items when they go
down the shafts.
Madimutsa, who once worked for Metallon Gold’s Arcturus
Mine from 2010 to 2016 said: “Actually, I had paid for my US$1 meal and I was
expecting to have it when I returned from work underground. We had no
foodstuffs with us when the incident happened.
“When we got trapped underground, we survived on tree roots, and in most cases I was the one who would taste whether the root was edible or not and then share with my colleagues.”
Life underground was not a bed of roses for the four days that the 15 artisanal miners remained trapped. It came with a fair share of trials and tribulations, some that were of their own making.
When they went underground, they only had one phone whose
power was on seven percent.
According to Madimutsa, even though they could not tell the
actual time, they would know it was evening when they started feeling sleepy.
They had misunderstandings and would sometimes find
themselves quarrelling over how to manoeuvre.
Said Madimutsa: “We sometimes quarrelled over which route
to take on our mission to escape from the shaft. We had disagreements on a
number of times, even on how to remove debris blocking our passage. We also had
arguments on working duties.
“Some of my colleagues were too lazy to work. We only had
one crow bar that we had found underground so we would take turns to remove
rubbles and stones, but some were not forthcoming.
“At the end of the day, we would remind each other that our
mission was to escape from the mine, so we remained focused on the job at hand
and proceeded.”
Among them were smokers who almost went on forced
rehabilitation. The power of craving for some smoke caught up with some among
the 15. This resulted in them removing foil from cigarette boxes and burning it
to quench the craving for some smoke.
The great escape
The arduous journey out of the collapsed shaft was no
child’s play.
The Manica Post understands that the 15 artisanal miners
were not from the same team.
The miners came from three separate groups that only
converged after the shaft collapsed.
Madimutsa said: “When we went down, I only had three
colleagues from my group, but when we heard a scary sound and the subsequent
falling of the debris that blocked our way out, we suddenly saw two other
groups coming our way, bringing the number to 15.
“We then agreed that we were all in trouble and had to
unite to find a way out. We started using our own hands to remove soil and
stones blocking our way out.
“We felt extreme pain on our hands, but we had no choice.
It was a do or die situation. Later, we stumbled upon a crow bar. We would take
turns to use it.
“We were lucky that when the debris and stones fell down as
the shaft collapsed, they created some cracks that we followed on our way out.
“We also used our knowledge of the soil type to know which
level we were in as we clawed our way out. At one point on Thursday morning, we
were covered in water up to waist level and strong winds came.
“We were in real danger at that point, but the water sunk
fast and the strong winds stopped. I have never come across such strong winds
in my life, but surprisingly the water and the winds disappeared like morning
dew.”
Madimutsa said as they scrapped their way out, they were
praying that the mining company would not bring machinery to try and excavate
in search of them because doing so would have resulted in a total collapse of
the shaft and spell doom for them.
And then, Madimutsa emerged from underground.
Moments later, a colleague also emerged, then another, then
another.
The ropes that were used by the rescue team to pull out the
remaining 11 came in handy, and Madimutsa said: “We really thank the efforts
made by Government and the mining companies to get us out, and we also thank
God for allowing us to escape death.”
Divine intervention
Up to this day, the gang leader believes God spared their
lives.
One thing that he remembers well were the prayer sessions
that they conducted as they fought for dear life.
He said: “We had time to pray. Yes, among us we had people
who are given to alcohol and smoking, but when we were in this predicament, we
all had time to pray for our lives.
“I can safely say our escape was a result of God’s
intervention. Without the Heavens, we would have died easily. This is why I
always wondered how come each time we went to sleep I would be hungry, but the
time we woke up I would feel the strength and power to go on.”
After all, none of them got injured or sick!
Madimutsa said: “When we came out, we were all fit and
fine. Yes, we were hungry, but none of us was injured or sick. Even when we
were taken to hospital for some medical checks, we all knew that this was just
a procedure that had to be done, but we were all fine and only needed some fine
porridge and later on some solid food.” Manica Post
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