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News24Wire reports that according to a former illegal miner, it was possible that one or more ‘zama zamas’ (illegal miners) became trapped underground along with three missing employees when a part of Lily Mine collapsed in 2016.
Known only as Mr X, he was testifying at an inquest into the mine collapse, which is being held to determine whether anyone should be held responsible for the death of three Lily Mine employees, namely Solomon Nyirenda, Pretty Nkambule and Yvonne Mnisi, when they became trapped underground after the mine collapse. The inquiry is being held in the Mbombela Magistrate's Court. Testifying via CCTV from an unknown location, Mr X said he was part of illegal miners who extracted gold from Lily Mine, but had been formally employed by the mine two years before the tragedy. "It is possible that there are more than three people trapped underground. One family is looking for an illegal miner who disappeared during the 5 February 2016 incident. It won't be easy to identify the missing zama zama because many of them were from neighbouring countries. We only knew each other through first names or nicknames," Mr X indicated. He went on to say: "From 2014, illegal miners started mining the crown pillar. They targeted the crown pillar because it carried enough gold. They followed a tunnel to reach the crown pillar … We also built a wooden scaffolding underground to target the crown pillar. The last blast on the crown pillar took place on 4 February 2016.”
Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
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