A Tanzanian among eight miners trapped in Burkina Faso

What you need to know:

  • Bukinabe government has banned managers of the mine from leaving the country while legal investigation is proceeding.

Dar es Salaam.Hope that eight workers who were trapped inside a flooded mine in Burkina Faso would be rescued alive is fading, two weeks since the accident occurred, a diplomat has said. One of the eight holds a Tanzanian passport.

Speaking yesterday, Tanzania’s High Commissioner to Nigeria and the entire Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), Dr Benson Bana, said as of yesterday no one of the eight had been rescued while the rescuing mission was still ongoing.

According to him the rain started filling the mine with water when the workers were 500 meters in the ground.

“The embassy is still following up very closely on the rescuing mission. Burkina Faso Prime Minister visited the site recently and he also expressed concerns about the safety standard of the mine even before the disaster happened,” said Dr Bana.

The accident, which occurred on April 16, 2022 was accelerated by the heavy rainfall, which caused flooding at the Perkoa mine that is owned by a Canadian-based firm Trevali Mining Corp.

While a Tanzania passport holder identified as Marco Bwire from Mara Region was also one of those trapped in the mine, one is Zambian and the rest are Burkinabés

Burkina Faso’s Premier Albert Ouedraogo was recently quoted by Al Jazeera saying that his government has banned managers of the mine from leaving the country while legal investigation is proceeding.

“Precautionary measures have been taken to prevent the persons in charge of the mine from leaving the country and instructions have been given firmly to the Minister of Security for this,” the PM was quoted saying.

Management of the mine has also issued a statement on the incident expressing their commitment to cooperate with the rescuing process.