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Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
A Nyamandlovu man allegedly committed suicide by drinking a dip chemical.

The body of the 70-year-old Mr Doubt Maseko was on Wednesday found in a stream near his homestead at Red Leaf village under Chief Deli after he had been missing for two days.

Villagers said Mr Maseko left his homestead around 5PM without telling his wife, Ms Minor Maseko.

“He left his homestead on Monday and never returned. On Tuesday his wife reported him missing at Nyamandlovu Police Station.

“Villagers teamed up with police to search for Mr Maseko but they did not find him. The search continued up to Wednesday and they found his body in a stream,” said Mr Akim Ndlovu from the same village.

He said they observed a small bottle with dip chemical and whitish vomit near his body.

“Police attended to the scene and his body was taken to the United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) for a postmortem,” said Mr Ndlovu.

Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Inspector, Spiwe Makonese could not confirm the incident yesterday.

Meanwhile, a gold miner died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning while inspecting explosives which had been detonated in a mine shaft on the outskirts of Gweru.

Mr Thulani Mzingwane, 34, from Ascot suburb in Gweru, suffocated in the 28 metres deep shaft as he inspected the dynamites that had been detonated.

The incident occurred at Northampton 18 Mine, Matobo Road, Gweru which is owned by prominent businessman, Mr Enos Size.

Mr Size confirmed that Mr Mzingwane died on Sunday at around 9AM.

“I can confirm that a miner died at my mine on Sunday. I’m told that he went into the shaft when gases from a previous blast had not cleared. I’m not on the ground but I heard that two days before the incident- the workers had detonated dynamites and Mr Mzingwane went into the shaft earlier than expected and suffocated.

“I understand that he should not have been in the mine shaft in the first place,” he said in an interview.

Mr Mzingwane’s fellow employee Mr Vusa Siwawa said on Sunday at around 9AM, Mr Mzingwane went down the mine shaft which is about 28 metres deep to conduct an inspection.

“When he was underground he confirmed that he had reached the bottom.  After about five minutes I tried to call him and there was no response and I suspected that something was amiss. I followed him underground to inspect and on arrival I found him lying on the ground lifeless. We took him up from the mine shaft and made a report to the police who attended the scene,” said Mr Siwawa. Recently, two miners Lypson Musandipa, 32, from Gokwe and Vincent Ngonya suffocated as they dug for gold in a mine shaft that was exposed to carbon monoxide, a dangerous gas, at Mount Morgen Mine in Lalapanzi that is owned by Mr Berlin Chitiki.