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Police identified the deceased as Ndodana Moyo (38), of Ngoni Village under Chief Ntabeni, in Zhombe. The police said the deceased was hit by a boulder on his unprotected head resulting in him sustaining the fatal injuries.

A source at the Chaka Mine plant said the accident    came against a background of repeated warnings from    the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in the Midlands for mine and claim owners in Kwekwe to exercise due care in their operations as the pillars underground were no longer strong.
“The City of Kwekwe has a number of supporting pillars that help support the ground that was made shaky owing to years of continuous extensive mining activities. However, the    mine owners decided to ignore calls

from the Ministry of             Mines officials not to chip at the supporting pillars when           mining.
“This level of negligence resulted in many such accidents like the one witnessed here,” said the source.
Midlands police spokesperson, Inspector Patrick Chademana, said the now deceased was working underground at  Chaka Mine together with a colleague when the mishap         occurred.
“Moyo was hit by a rock on his unprotected head while working underground in a pit that is 20 metres deep. The huge stone  hit Moyo on the head and he died on the spot. His body was retrieved from the mineshaft by a workmate, Mr Mjabulisi Ncube (25).

“The matter was reported to the police who then attended     to the scene. The body of the deceased was ferried to   Kwekwe District Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem,” he           said.
Insp Chademana appealed to mine and claim owners        to provide protective clothing for their workers and      respect environmental and mining laws in order to preserve  lives.
“Protective clothing and following mining regulations is important wherever there are mining operations taking place. Failure to do this will always result in unnecessary loss of lives,” he said.