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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
At least 15 Zimbabweans and Mozambicans are feared dead after a generator they were using in a disused underground mine in Benoni, 35km outside Johannesburg, South Africa exploded on Monday morning. It is understood that the group was using the generator for lighting and drilling.

During the process they started a fire using some planks which produced toxic gases which then mixed with carbon monoxide from the generator which then exploded. As a result, the group died of suffocation, while a few managed to escape and make a report to the police.

A source close to investigations said yesterday that rescuers had retrieved six bodies with the assistance of their relatives. “Among those retrieved yesterday are five Zimbabweans who were positively identified by their relatives here (in South Africa). The other body has been identified as that of a Mozambican national.

“It is believed that among those who are still missing are Zimbabweans and Mozambicans,” he said. “At the moment, relatives of those feared dead are busy trying to retrieve the bodies after rescue teams indicated that they can only get under ground after 14 days insisting that there were still some toxic gases.”

Most of the victims were from Nkayi, five from Gokwe South, two from Tsholotsho, one from Kwekwe while one woman was from Kezi. Efforts to get a comment from police in Johannesburg yesterday were fruitless. The official said police visited the area yesterday in the company of authorities from the Zimbabwean consulate in Johannesburg.

Zimbabwe’s consul general in that country Mr Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro said they were yet to get full details on the incident from police at Benoni. “We are still consulting with the police to see if there are Zimbabweans among the victims,” he said. The incident comes a year after 22 Zimbabweans died in a disused gold mine in Roodeport in that country in May.