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Bulawayo Bureau
A 20-YEAR-OLD illegal miner died after a shaft collapsed while he was panning for gold at a mine in Esigodini.
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele, said the accident occurred on Monday at around 5pm at Alice Farm Compound in Esigodini when Nkosilathi Mkandla and two friends went to the shaft at a disused mine.
Mkandla went down the shaft in search for gold samples while his friends remained outside.
“The shaft collapsed while he was inside and buried him,” said Chief Insp Ndebele.
His friends dug him out, but by the time they got to him he was already dead. The matter was reported to the police who attended the scene and Mkandla’s body was ferried to Esigodini District Hospital mortuary.
“Mining is a dangerous activity which requires people to follow the necessary rules and requirements. People must desist from engaging in illegal mining activities as they will be risking their lives. Disused or closed shafts should not be used as they are a risk to human life.
“If shafts have been abandoned it means that experts realised that further operations in those shafts will endanger the lives of people. Those shafts would have also been ruled out as unsafe and that should be respected.”
Online Reporter