At least 23 miners working illegally feared dead in Zimbabwe mine flood

Illegal gold miners in Battlefields, 175 kilometres west of Harare, entered shafts on land owned by RioZim and another firm on Tuesday night in search of gold, but a dam wall nearby collapsed, flooding the shafts and tunnels, local media report.

Artisanal gold miners work at an open mine after occupying parts of Smithfield farm, owned by the former president Robert Mugabe's wife Grace Mugabe, in Mazowe in Zimbabwe. April 5, 2018.
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Artisanal gold miners work at an open mine after occupying parts of Smithfield farm, owned by the former president Robert Mugabe's wife Grace Mugabe, in Mazowe in Zimbabwe. April 5, 2018.

At least 23 miners working illegally are trapped and feared dead in Zimbabwe after shafts and underground tunnels they were in were flooded by water from a burst dam, a state-owned daily newspaper reported on Thursday.

The southern African nation has been working to regulate thousands of people who illegally dig for gold everywhere, including on farms and abandoned mines, mostly under the cover of darkness.

The Herald said illegal miners in Battlefields, 175 kilometres west of Harare, had entered shafts on land owned by RioZim and another firm on Tuesday night in search of gold, but a dam wall nearby collapsed, flooding the shafts and tunnels.

"The names of the people believed to have been trapped has reached 23. Chances of rescuing any survivors are very slim," the paper quoted Fortunate Muzulu, the administrator for the area, as saying.

Muzulu, who could not be reached for comment on Thursday, told The Herald that government officials had asked for bigger pumps from platinum miner Zimplats to drain water to retrieve bodies.

RioZim spokesman Wilson Gwatiringa said the company was not mining on the land where the miners were trapped and was assisting government officials with the rescue efforts.

Small-scale gold producers, including illegal miners, accounted for nearly 60 percent of the record 33 tonnes of gold produced in Zimbabwe last year, according to official data.

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