Civil Protection Unit Suspends Rescue Mission At Kwekwe Mine
The Civil Protection Unit has suspended a rescue mission at a Kwekwe mine where two artisanal miners died after being trapped underground.
Earlier reports suggested that more than twenty people who were conducting illegal mining activities after official operations were stopped in 2007 were trapped underground.
The Herald reported yesterday that the operations were suspended following a directive by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA).
The Director of the Civil Protection Unit, Nathan Nkomo told The Associated Press that they had retrieved “all the bodies” and an injured miner was taken to a hospital.
National police spokesman Paul Nyathi and Nkomo said they could not confirm the number of people underground due to the unregulated nature of the mining.
Meanwhile, some miners continued to mine nearby, unfazed by the deaths of their colleagues. A fellow miner, Davison Chidhakwa said that the death of two miners was not a disaster as people die “all the time in these mines.”
More: VOA News
