One killed, another cheats death following mine accident in Geita

Geita. A small-scale miner has been killed after he was trapped in a collapsed mine at Lwamgasa Village in Geita Rural District on Tuesday.

The body of the victim was found Thursday following rescue efforts.

Eyewitnesses said two artisanal miners were trapped in the mine pit at Bingwa mining grounds.

The two were Musa Everest, 19, who was rescued alive and Fikiri Paulo, 27, whose body was retrieved Thursday, October 12.

Lwamgasa Ward Councilor Joseph Saesembe told The Citizen on Thursday, October 12, that on the material day, the incident occurred at 11pm.

“The two miners were trapped as they continued with mining while underground,” he said

Efforts to rescue the trapped miners according to Saesembe was made by the artisan miners.

He noted that the artisanal miners used crude tools for the rescue operation, thus taking too long to get down to where the body was.

Mr Saesembe explained that the management team at the Bingwa Gold Mine together with the owner of the mining grounds, Mr Kazimoto Mkondo, disappeared into the unknown immediately after the incident.

However, he has ordered the minerals office in the region to make regular supervision at mining plots in order to ensure safety.

“Most of the small-scale miners have little knowledge concerning safety of the mining pits,” he said

Mr Fikiri, who survived in the accident, said that the pit caved in suddenly as they were heading underground.

Geita Region acting mineral officer Godfrey Kiraka noted that a team of geologists has been dispatched to Bingwa mines to inspect what could have caused the mining pit to cave in.