Search continues for workers missing at open-pit mine in Zambia after heavy rain causes landslides

(4 Dec 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chingola, Zambia - 03 December 2023
1. Various of excavator dumping sand onto truck
2. Wide of search and rescue team at the entrance of mine
3. SOUNDBITE (Bemba) Lawrence Musonda, Chingola resident:
"I have been working here for the past seven years. The tragedy that has befallen us is very unfortunate. We always work here and all has been well until Thursday when this mine accident happened. The government has shown concern and we wish other people could come through because this disaster has affected many families."
4. Wide of excavators scooping out mud after water was pumped out from underground
5. Various of people at mine
STORYLINE:
Seven miners were confirmed dead and more than 20 others were missing and presumed dead after heavy rain caused landslides that buried them inside tunnels they had been allegedly digging illegally at a copper mine in Zambia.
The landslides happened some time between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday, police said.
The miners were digging for copper ore at the Seseli open-pit mine in the copper-belt city of Chingola, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lusaka, according to police.
No bodies had yet been retrieved after the landslides late on Thursday night, police said.
Many of the victims were believed to have drowned.
Neither police nor government officials could say exactly how many miners were trapped in the tunnels, but Chingola District Commissioner Raphael Chumupi told The Associated Press that there were at least 36.
The victims were buried at multiple sites, police said.
Police, a mine rescue team and emergency services were at the mine.
Chumupi said the miners were engaged in illegal mining without the knowledge of the mine owners.
He said they were buried in three separate tunnels.
Illegal artisanal mining is common in Chingola, where the open pits are surrounded by huge waste dumps made up of rock and earth that has been dug out of the mines.
Zambia, a southern African nation of 20 million people, is among the 10 biggest copper producers in the world.
AP Video shot by Starfrance Zulu
===========================================================
Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel [phone] Email: [e-mail].
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

[@user-fayz-al-Saraj]

I wish you good luck

[@haroldlauron7894]

The TRUTH " for US President 2024
He speaks the TRUTH