The Mining Ministry has confirmed the rescue of five Tanzanian gold miners after they had spent 41 days stuck in the deep underground in the darkness for more than a month, taking haven in a cave they had previously stored tools in.
The survivors who were miners among a group of nearly 20 had been in a pit when a shaft they were working on buckled in October 5th. The local miners had been digging for gold in the north western Shinyanga region about 900 kilometres from the country’s capital Dar es Salaam when the tragedy occurred. Tanzania is reported as Africa’s fourth largest gold producer.
They Miners ate cockroaches and frogs, and sipped murky filthy water trickling in from above them to stay alive. Reports state that while 14 escaped when the shaft collapsed, six were trapped. One of the miners died during the over one month ordeal in the pit. The five who were rescued on Sunday were taken to hospital for treatment. The Minister of Energy and Mines spokesperson Badra Masoud said to the media that the miners had been trapped approximately 300 feet underground.
According to the local police commander Justus Kamugisha who told the media that the miners were all thought to be dead during the collapse, stated that other miners who had been crawling down a separate shaft were alarmed to hear voices coming from the darkness when they heard the call for help. They reported it and subsequently rescue efforts began on Saturday, with the five men eventually rescued on Sunday. The Tanzanian newspaper ‘The Citizen’ reported that the mining ministry had called the rescue ‘a miracle.’
-Agency report
