Zimbabwe gold shaft collapse kills seven miners

Police in Zimbabwe said Monday that seven artisanal miners were killed in a disused gold shaft when it collapsed at the weekend.

Few details were given on the circumstances of the collapse on Saturday in Bindura, about 85 kilometres (53 miles) north of the capital Harare.

However police issued a warning against illegal mining activities.

The southern African nation has vast reserves of platinum, diamonds, gold, coal and copper.
Due to the floundering economy, illegal mining is rife and often takes place under dangerous conditions.

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People should refrain from “conducting mining activities at illegal shafts and disused mine sites,” police said Monday.

Recent heavy rains have saturated the ground making mines prone to collapse, police added.
Five of the seven men have been identified, and are from 20 to 34 years of age, while next of kin were still being sought for two of the victims, police said.

Police did not specify how many people were in the mine at the time of the collapse or whether others were missing, but other miners at the site told a local broadcaster that 15 people had been trapped.

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Accidents at illegal mines are common.

At least nine people were killed in September 2023 following a collapse in a mine in Chegutu, about 120 kilometres west of Harare.

Saturday’s deadly collapse comes after 87 bodies were retrieved at an illegal mining operation in neighboring South Africa.

More than 400 Zimbabweans were among the nearly 2,000 clandestine miners detained for their involvement at the site.