THE DEATH TOLL from a shaft collapse at a disused gold mine in Zimbabwe is expected to rise to 13, the country’s vice president said, according to state media.

State-run newspaper The Sunday Mail quoted Vice President Constantino Chiwenga as saying “we believe we have lost about 13” in the mine disaster, which happened on Friday in the gold-rich town of Chegutu, about 100km west of the capital Harare.

He said 21 out of 34 miners thought to be underground at the time of the collapse had been rescued. Eight had been confirmed dead, with three bodies removed from the mine and five located but not yet removed, Chiwenga said. The remaining five people were presumed dead.

Chiwenga was speaking yesterday at a meeting of the ruling Zanu-PF party, The Sunday Mail reported.

He said the collapse had happened at a disused German-owned mine that had not been properly sealed off, allowing unofficial artisanal miners to find their way in to search for any deposits left over.

The minister and the engineer also reported that three other miners were thought to be missing, but their whereabouts were unknown.

Yesterday afternoon, several hundred local residents watched in anguish as rescue workers tried to retrieve bodies from the mine.

Women wept as they waited for their husbands or sons to be pulled from the rubble.

“I’m heartbroken,” said Vimbai Muchena, 38, whose son was trapped underground.

Johannes Nyautete, 33, was among the miners who escaped the mine.

“The mine started collapsing as soon as I landed on the underground tunnel which starts about 250 metres from the ground. It was around 10am on Friday,” he said.

“We then saw some of our colleagues rushing out of the tunnel and we escaped together.

“It was a traumatising experience.”

He said the mine collapsed because there were no safety pillars.

Incidents of mine collapses, often involving artisanal miners, are common in the southern African country that is rich in gold, coal and diamonds. 

Zimbabwe’s mineral-rich national parks, abandoned mines, rivers and even towns are often swarmed with people, including young children, seeking to find valuable deposits.

It is one of the few economic activities still going on in a country that has suffered industry closures, a currency crisis and high unemployment over the past two decades.

With reporting from AFP and Press Association.