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Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Globe and Phoenix Mine, where a tunnel collapsed killing two illegal miners last week, was deserted on Monday after the Government ordered the shut down of all operations to allow mining inspectors to assess the situation underground.

Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Larry Mavima toured the mine over the weekend and ordered that all operations be stopped for safety assessment.

Globe and Phoenix Mine ceased formal operations in 2007 following an environmental impact assessment, which showed that tunnels, most of which were underneath Kwekwe city centre, were posing a danger to the city.

But artisanal miners moved illegally into the mine, leading to last week’s tragedy.

The Herald caught up with some of the survivors who recounted how they cheated death.

The survivors, who said they had to walk over 12km underground to find an exit point, admitted to having been operating illegally.

Mr Limon Ndlovu of Zhombe  said it was a terrifying experience.

“I was extracting ore together with my colleagues right at the entrance of the tunnel when it suddenly gave in.

“A huge boulder hit two of my colleagues but they could not get help immediately as everyone scrambled to safety,” said Mr Ndlovu

He said together with some of his colleagues, they used a 6km long disused tunnel that passes under Kwekwe city centre, to escape.

“We were getting lost underground and at times would go back to retrace the exit points after coming across flooded tunnels. This mine is vast; we were not trapped but we were getting lost.

“There were four of us and we heaved a sigh of relief when we reached the exit point at around 7pm on Thursday (last week),” said Mr Ndlovu.

Another survivor, Mr Luckson Makoni, said the disaster will forever haunt him.

“When the incident occurred, the tunnel was divided into two and I was lucky to be at the end, closer to the exit point. We panicked and jostled to get out of the mine.

“We gathered enough courage to go back into the mine after I realised my colleague was missing. When I got to the scene, he was trapped under a huge boulder and still alive.

“We tried by all means to save his life but he died during the rescue efforts and we had no choice but to leave his body there,” said a sobbing Mr Makoni

He said the body was later retrieved by the police.