27 Zimbabweans gassed to death in SA mine

minaThandeka Moyo Chronicle Reporter
TWENTY-SEVEN Zimbabweans, all believed to be from Gokwe, suffocated in an abandoned mine shaft in South Africa last week. The miners are suspected to have died after inhaling poisonous carbon monoxide in the disused Roodepoort Mine in Johannesburg West. So far 27 bodies have been retrieved though 30 more are believed to be still trapped underground.

However, emergency services personnel said they would not risk their lives trying to recover bodies in such a dangerous situation.
South Africans, Mozambicans and Zimbabweans are among the miners feared dead.

Unused mines throughout South Africa, suspected to have huge gold deposits, have attracted scores of unemployed people from the southern African region who are working with some South Africans in the mines.

Families of those trapped in the mine have opted to continue their efforts to retrieve the bodies of loved ones despite safety warnings. Zimbabwe Embassy officials visited the mine Thursday and asked for the names of the deceased.

Online reports said the City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services attempted to assist in the rescue efforts but had to abandon the operation after detecting high levels of carbon monoxide in one of the shafts.

Narrating his ordeal to Chronicle yesterday, Themba Ncube, a relative to two of the deceased miners, said the accident had caused them a lot of pain.

“One of the people who died is my brother, Danisa Ncube from Kana Mission in Gokwe and I am failing to come into terms with the tragedy. The second person is my nephew and as a family we are mourning two people.

“We are now working on modalities to have their bodies transported to Zimbabwe. They were cross-border jumpers and we hope we will manage to bury them at our home,” he said.

Another relative who spoke on condition of anonymity said seven of the 27 men belonged to one family and they were from Njaye in Gokwe.

“It is unfortunate that we have to organise a burial for seven people. The incident has wiped out our family and we hope we will raise enough money to ferry their bodies from South Africa.

“It pains me because I grew up with quite a number of the men and even spent the past festive season with them. Words fail to express how shocked and traumatised we are,” she said.

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