HARARE – As many as 40 illegal gold miners are trapped underground in Bindura after a decommissioned mine shaft collapsed on them Wednesday following heavy rains earlier this week.
Rescuers began working late on Wednesday after a distress call was received from RAN Mine just outside Bindura town.
Witnesses said dozens of men were working underground when their shaft collapsed, burying them in mud and water.
Six miners were rescued on Wednesday, said government spokesman Ndavaningi Mangwana.
A man who arrived shortly after the incident occurred said eye witness accounts varied wildly, with the number of trapped miners estimated at anything between 20 and 40. Mangwana said they believed at least 30 were trapped.
The man, who declined to be named for professional reasons, claimed there was a blast that was heard by Bindura residents at around the time the mine shaft caved in.
“It rained heavily on Tuesday, so it could very well be the case that this blast – whatever it was – caused a mudslide,” the man said.
A video from the scene showed a large pit covered with water and rocks where the shaft was previously. It was the only way in and way out, the man who took the video told ZimLive.
Fredda Rebecca Mine sent its rescue team on Thursday morning. The team was still pumping out water by mid-morning.
In February last year, 22 illegal gold miners died near Kwekwe, which highlighted the risks run by illegal gold miners in Zimbabwe.
A month later, nine illegal gold miners died at Mazowe Mine after they detonated explosives underground and were trapped.
Kwekwe, Mazowe and Bindura are rich in gold deposits and popular with artisanal miners, known locally as “Makorokoza” or hustlers who work in unsafe shafts using picks and shovels and generator-powered water pumps.
Police have arrested hundreds of illegal miners involved in violent turf wars for mining claims this year, but lack of jobs and a failing economy keep driving more young men to risk life and limb in underground tunnels abandoned by big mining companies for health and safety reasons.
