The Sunday News
Belinda Moyo, Sunday News Reporter
A six-year-old boy from Old Nic Mine compound in Killarney, Bulawayo drowned on Saturday while swimming in the mine’s waste trench with two friends.
It is said the boy (name withheld) went to play with his two friends at around 8am and never returned. His parents only realised he was missing around 11am.
Sunday News visited the mine at the weekend where a family member, Mr Joshua Moyo said they started looking for the boy from 11am until around 2pm when his two friends revealed that they left him in the trench.
“We looked for the boy from 11am and we found him at 2pm after his friends revealed that they left him in the trench while swimming because he was failing to come out. When we arrived, he was already dead,” he said.
Mr Moyo said the trench is very dangerous because it is not fenced and holds waste water that is mixed with cyanide.
“The trenches are very dangerous, they are at the open, unfenced and there is no guard. They hold waste water from the mine and the water has cyanide,” he said.
Speaking to Sunday News, a resident from Old Nic Mine compound Mrs Esinat Dube, said it was an act of recklessness that the mine could leave such trenches unfenced.
“We are hurt, come to think of it that the mine did not make any efforts to ensure that the trenches are fenced off and guarded. You cannot always keep children under watch every time as one way or the other they will sneak out to play,” said Mrs Dube.
Approached for a comment Old Nic Mine Resources manager Mr Yacob Mbewe declined to comment.
“I am not in an official state to comment, I am here as an individual, I saw nothing and heard nothing,” said Mr Mbewe.
@ MoyoOlivet
