Staff Reporter

Seven gold panners are feared dead after being trapped underground since yesterday after a mine shaft collapsed and flooded at Bharachwathi in Silobela.

Rescue operations are still in progress for the last 24 hours with authorities working to break through.

The situation remains tense as the rescuers race against time to locate the miners, whose condition is not yet known.

Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit (CPU) Chairperson, Fortune Mupungu, confirmed the incident this morning, saying rescue operations are currently underway.

“We are currently seized with rescue operations here in Silobela. We are still draining water from the shaft which had filled the mine, and we are making progress as we managed to retrieve some of their bags,” said Mupungu.

He added that rescuers were close to reaching the tunnel where the trapped miners are believed to have been working.

“We are almost getting to the tunnel that we suspect they were working in,” he said.

The CPU is working with local authorities, the police, and the miners in the area in the rescue efforts.

Heavy rains experienced in the area are suspected to have contributed to the flooding of the shaft.