HARARE - Hopes of rescuing two miners trapped underground at Antonio Mine in Gwanda have faded after mine officials reported that they had been unable to....excavate the collapsed tunnels leading to the men, Mines minister Obert Mpofu told Parliament.
The miners have been trapped underground since last week.
“We had an accident on Friday last week at a mine called Antonia,” Mpofu said. “This accident saw the caving in of the soil into a mine which had six people underground. The rescue teams have been working flat out from last week until last night when we rescued four people who are actually alive. They are in Gwanda Hospital.”
Mpofu told the House that he had been informed by the Chief Mining Engineer at the mine that the rescued four were in a good condition.
“There are two miners who have not been found because one of the shafts which they were working on was an old one and a pillar supporting the walls caved in,” Mpofu told Parliament.
The Zimbabwean heard that family members of the trapped men were holding a vigil outside the gates of the mine. Speaking in a telephone interview from Gwanda, one family member linked to the trapped man said the miners, who earned a “a paltry salary monthly”, had complained to them in recent weeks about excess methane gas, poor ventilation, crumbling walls and weak tunnel supports.
But state officials and the owners of the mine said it had passed an inspection with only minor infractions, all of which, they said, were fixed.
The last big mining accident in the country came 38 years ago when 427 miners perished in an underground explosion at Hwange Colliery.
As the hours wear on, miners and family members waiting outside the gates were reportedly beginning to show strain. Some were in hysterics while others prayed quietly for their loved ones to be rescued.
Post published in: News