Four die, one survives in Milenge illegal mining accident

Four people have died and one survived after an alleged illegal mining operation in a deep pit in Kalali Resettlement Scheme in Senior Chief Kalasamukoso’s area of Milenge District, Luapula Province.

Luapula Province Permanent Secretary, Prudence Chinama-Kangwa, said experts at the scene had confirmed the death of four people, while one survivor was rescued from the mine.

In a statement issued by Luapula Provincial Administration Principal Public Relations Officer Emmanuel Maseko on Sunday, Chinama-Kangwa said the five were allegedly engaged in illegal mining inside an approximately 20-metre-deep pit with tunnels when the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon.

Preliminary findings indicate that the victims may have died from suffocation caused by dangerously low oxygen levels inside the pit.

The miners had also taken a generator and water pump underground, the statement said.