The Sunday News
Sione Amidu
A dark cloud was already covering the province on Tuesday morning when rescuers from Vumbachikwe Mine in Gwanda retrieved the first body out of the 240-metre deep Bucks Mine shaft.
Reality was beginning to sink amongst relatives, friends and workmates that none of the seven gold miners trapped underground since last Saturday would have survived the accident. Some relatives had travelled through Saturday night, some from as far as Hwange as news began to filter that seven miners had plunged into a shaft at Bucks Mine in Colleen Bawn, Matabeleland South province, after ropes used to hold the structure taking them in and out of the shaft gave in.
The shaft that took the lives of the seven miners at Bucks Mine in colleen bawn
As relatives arrived at the mine, eager to see and hear what had befallen their loved ones, they said they shocked when mine management stopped them from entering the place and allegedly seized their phones for taking pictures of the accident scene.
“We left other relatives at home and they are eager to see the place where the accident occurred but we have been manhandled and forced to delete the pictures, we are not being treated well by the mine owners,” said a relative of one of the victims who identified himself as Busani of Sitezi in Gwanda.
Journalists who thronged Bucks Mine on Monday morning eager to get the “scoop” would also suffer similar fate as they were barred from taking pictures. A mob of people including the mine management surrounded some journalists, threatening to beat them up and seize their equipment. They argued that journalists arrived at the scene “uninvited” as it was a private property.
Another irate relative of the deceased Desire Ncube from Hwange complained about the treatment they got from the mine management.
“We were informed about the accident at 6pm on Saturday by the owners, to be told that it was a minor accident and we should not be worried. Later on that night a relative called saying that they had heard on social media that it was a serious accident and seven people were involved. We travelled on Saturday night from Hwange. When we reached the accident scene, we were barred from entering the place and told to wait outside where other relatives were. I was furious since l was curious to see where my niece was working up to the time of his death.
“I took out my phone and started taking pictures of the place, a mob approached us in anger, took my phone and forced me to delete the pictures. They said it is their private property and no one should take pictures or else they will call the police. By the time they allowed us to enter I went into a room and shot pictures through the window so that no one would see me,” said Ncube.
By the time the first body was conveyed to the surface last Tuesday, relatives started losing hope as they now believed no one was still alive due to the state the body was in.
“The first body was conveyed out at 9am, we then lost all hope due to the condition it was in. The deceased was badly injured with skin peeling off due to prolonged exposure to water. We are however, grateful to the rescue team for retrieving all the bodies even though no one survived, they will be laid to rest in a proper manner,” he added.
Some relatives added that they were not able to get all the belongings of the deceased. The deceased came from different places such as Gwanda, Binga, Hwange, Beitbridge and Mberengwa.
Speaking at the accident scene, Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Hon Polite Kambamura applauded the efforts made by the rescue team and sympathised with the families of the deceased.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura
“We lost seven miners in this operation. It is so unfortunate and my condolences to the families, relatives and workmates of the deceased and we are so sad as Government and want to urge the communities around to adhere to all safety standards to make sure that such things will not happen in future,” said Hon Kambamura.
He added that Government was rolling out safety awareness campaigns to small-scale miners.
“Currently the department of the chief Government mining engineer is going around making safety awareness campaigns and they are also going together with the Ministry of Environment to make sure that miners adhere to safety measures and safe working environments,” he said.
The rescue team captain, Engineer Cleopas Karima said that they managed to rescue all the seven victims though the process was not an easy one.
“When we approached this shaft we went down to Level Eight, about 22 metres deep. We then started pumping out water from Sunday around 10pm because we had challenges of broken pipes and we had to work on the pump and pipes. We saw the first body on Monday at 10pm floating on top of the water and we continued pumping water out until Tuesday at 5am, that was when we saw five more bodies. We started cleaning the shaft so that we start retrieving the bodies and we managed to retrieve the first body at 9am on Tuesday.
Cleopas Karima
“This activity is hard considering that it is a small-scale mine but we have managed to sail through. It is not easy considering that these bodies have been in the water for four days, there are bad smells and blood all over, but as the rescue team we are trained for that. There is no hard activity for a rescue team,” he said.
Provincial chairman for Matabeleland South Small-Scale Miners and Zimbabwe Miners Federation Philimon Mukueli said they have engaged Midlands State University and the School of Mines to train small-scale miners on health and safety issues.
“This accident caught us unaware and we are touched as an organisation. As Zimbabwe Miners Federation, we saw this as a challenge to us and we now understand that most small-scale miners lack knowledge of health and safety issues. Owners of the mines might have the knowledge but our workers do not have enough knowledge on health and safety issues which is very important in mining operations.”
