Zimbabwe: Govt says all 15 trapped miners rescued alive

All 15 miners trapped in a Zimbabwean gold mine for four days have been rescued. Mines Minister Soda Zhemu on Monday said the workers were healthy and conscious. Video footage posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by Mangwana showed the workers, covered in mud, being greeted by a small jubilant crowd at the mine site.

The Redwing gold mine owned by Metallon Corporation caved in after the shaft collapsed on Thursday. Officials said an earth tremor might have caused the accident.

Families of the trapped workers have been camping at the mine site in the mining village of Penhalongato - 270 km (167 miles) east of the capital Harare - waiting for the rescue.

The area is home to many undocumented workers who scrape a living amid economic hardship particularly since the mine was placed under corporate rescue in 2020,

Mine accidents are not uncommon in Zimbabwe. At least nine people died in September after the collapse of Bay Horse Mine, a disused gold mine in Chegutu, about 110km (70 miles) west of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.