Two die in Masvingo mine shaft collapse
Two artisanal gold miners died in Mushandike resettlement area after a mine shaft they were digging for gold collapsed and trapped them on Saturday.
Paul Mhuka (20) and Cephas Pandasvika (41) of villages 15 and 23 respectively in Mushandike were found lifeless after fellow artisanal miners at Golden Echo, 7B removed rubble that had covered them.
The pair were working underground in the 25 metres-deep shaft with their third colleague who was lucky to escape after the shaft collapsed.
The trio had entered the shaft the previous evening around 8pm for the night shift when disaster struck.
According to eyewitness tragedy struck after boulders and mounds of earth fell into the shaft where the two deceased and the lone survivor were digging for the yellow metal.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said when police attended the scene bodies of the deceased had already been retrieved from the shaft by their colleagues.
The bodies were taken to Masvingo General Hospital for post-mortem.
Gold mining by artisanal miners is rife in the highly mineralised reefs in Mushandike where scores of fortune seekers lose lives every year in deep shafts.