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From Rumbidzayi Zinyuke  in Penhalonga

At least 10 illegal gold miners are feared dead after mineshafts collapsed at Premier Estate in Mutasa District, Manicaland at the weekend, with only two bodies having been retrieved so far.

The mining area is owned by a private firm, Zimgold Fields, which is carrying out mining operations along Mutare River.

Manicaland Provincial Development Coordinator and Civil Protection Unit head Mr Edgars Seenza said the number of people trapped underground was yet to be established.

Efforts by the company to rescue more miners are underway.

“The acting District Development Coordinator for Mutasa is currently on the ground to assess the situation and what we understand is that only two people were retrieved yesterday (Sunday).

“We are yet to ascertain the number of people trapped inside,” he said.

Manicaland police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa said police had received reports of the incident, but details were sketchy.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana also confirmed the incident yesterday on Twitter.

“Ten illegal gold miners are feared to have been buried alive at Premier mining area along Mutare River, which is owned by Zimgold Fields, a privately-owned company in Mutasa District over the weekend. So far two bodies have been retrieved from one of the shafts,” he said.

When The Herald visited Premier Estate yesterday, excavators were at work and rescue efforts will resume this morning.

One of the illegal miners who was among those who were mining at the time, Blessing Saidi blamed mine workers for causing the collapse.

“We came here to try and dig for gold in the shafts, but since I did not have tools, I went out of the pit to go back to the village to look for some equipment. When I came back, I saw that excavators were already closing the pits and I notified them that I had left some people underground in the pits, but they did not listen to me,” he said.

He said he eventually approached some youth leaders to assist and a police report was made.

Saidi said he did not know the exact number of people buried underground since there were many pits, but said there could be more than five.

A Zimgold Fields worker, Mr Patrick Matimbe, said they had engaged the police to assist in clearing the area a week before a mine reclamation exercise.

“A notice was sent out three days before we began the exercise and the police assured us that it was safe to begin closing the pits. Unfortunately, after we had finished, we heard that some village leaders had approached the police claiming that there were people underground when the pits were closed.

“We availed our machinery to facilitate the reopening of the pits so that we can make sure that if there is anyone trapped down there, they are retrieved. We will continue offering our machinery for the search,” he said.