5 artisanal miners perish in mine collapse

Rescue efforts are underway to retrieve the bodies of two artisanal miners trapped last Tuesday at Shasha Mine in Muzvezve, Mhondoro-Ngezi, after a shaft they were operating in collapsed.

The Government, with assistance from Pickstone Peerless Mine, local small-scale miners, and local legislator Vangelis Haritatos who is also the Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister, has successfully retrieved bodies of some artisanal miners that were buried under rubble due to the collapse, which was exacerbated by excessive rains.

The retrieved bodies have not yet been identified.

The five miners were undercutting below the backfilled shaft when rainwater accumulated, compromising the integrity of the entrance and exit tunnels.

As of yesterday, the body of the fourth victim had been located but had not yet been retrieved.

Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura confirmed the ongoing recovery efforts.

“Our officials are on site doing what they can, with assistance from artisanal miners and the Pickstone Peerless Mine rescue team to retrieve the remaining two.

“We have identified one of the remaining bodies, but it is yet to be retrieved,” he said.

Efforts to locate the last trapped miner are ongoing. Preliminary investigations indicate that the five miners exploited the reluctance of the mine claim’s owner to operate, gaining illegal entry.

Said Deputy Minister Kambamura: “This mine is owned by someone who has not been working at the site for long. As the Government, we want all mine owners to regularly check their mine sites.”

The Government is also discouraging mining activities during the rainy season, as it poses significant dangers.

Several artisanal and illegal miners have lost their lives during this period, with 10 fatalities reported in Mashonaland East and Central provinces due to mine accidents in the past month.

In January, a shaft collapse at Olympud Mine in Makaha, Mudzi District, claimed the lives of three artisanal miners, while seven died in a similar incident at Bortha Mine in Bindura, Mashonaland Central.

Two others died in Hwedza.

The Herald