(Harare) The collapse of a shaft in an abandoned gold mine in Zimbabwe has killed 13 people, according to state media.
The state newspaper The Sunday Mail quoted Vice President Constantino Chiwenga as saying that “we believe we have lost about 13 [personnes] » in the mining disaster, which occurred on Friday in the gold-rich town of Chegutu, about 100 kilometers west of the capital, Harare.
He said 21 of the 34 miners believed to be underground at the time of the collapse had been rescued. Eight were confirmed dead, with three bodies removed from the mine and five located but not yet recovered, Mr Chiwenga said.
The other five people were presumed dead.
Mr Chiwenga was speaking on Saturday at a meeting of the ruling ZANU-PF party, reports said. The Sunday Mail. He said the collapse occurred at a disused German-owned mine that was not properly barricaded, allowing improvised miners to find their way to search for remaining deposits.
Chiwenga said the Zimbabwean victims would receive a state-assisted funeral, while President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for a moment of silence in memory of the victims during the meeting.
Mine collapses, often involving unskilled miners, are common in the southern African country rich in gold, coal and diamonds. Zimbabwe also has Africa’s largest reserves of lithium, a mineral in global demand due to its use in electric car batteries.
Zimbabwe’s mineral-rich national parks, abandoned mines, rivers and even towns are often overrun with people, including young children, looking to find valuable deposits. It is one of the few economic activities still underway in a country that has suffered industry closures, a currency crisis and high unemployment over the past two decades.
Critics blame economic mismanagement and corruption for the collapse of a once-thriving economy. The government cites two decades of sanctions imposed by the United States amid allegations of human rights abuses by the government.
On Friday, Indian businessman Harpal Randhawa and his son were among six people who died in a plane crash near another diamond mine, the Sunday Times. The small plane is believed to have belonged to the RioZim mining company in Randhawa. The crash killed everyone on board, according to the report.
RioZim was previously part of the Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto.