Accidents of this type are frequent in the country.

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ARMANDO FRANCA / AP / SIPA

At least 40 illegal miners were trapped after a disused gold mine collapsed in Zimbabwe, the National Miners' Federation said Thursday.

The accident happened on Wednesday evening in the city of Bindura, some 70 km north of the capital Harare, Federation official Wellington Takavarasha said.

Miners were working inside the disused Ran Gold Mine when a shaft collapsed.

Six minors were able to be freed from the rubble and hospitalized.

"Those who were rescued said there were around 40 people in the mine shaft at the time of the accident," Wellington Takavarasha said, adding that rescue operations were still ongoing.

The mine collapsed after the miners, some of whom belong to "organized unions", "blew up some pillars," said Nathan Nkomo, a relief official.

"The number (of minors trapped) is not yet established."

The funeral directors already on the site

Hundreds of people gathered at the site to assist with the rescue, including relatives of the trapped minors, journalists noted.

Rescuers were pumping water from a flooded access in an attempt to gain access to the miners, the sources said.

"I am waiting (news) from my brother's son who is trapped underground," said Patience Jacob, worried about the future.

"I think the rescue team is not very effective," she said, saying "doubting" that the minors are found alive.

Funeral directors have also set up tents on the mine site.

Frequent accidents

Zimbabwe's subsoil harbors many minerals, including platinum, diamonds, gold, coal and copper.

Mining operations are a major source of income for the country, where gold alone accounts for 60% of exports.

Without a job in this southern African country where unemployment is around 90%, many men survive by working in disused mines or illegally entering mines that are still in use.

Accidents are frequent.

In February 2019, at least 24 illegal miners were killed at the bottom of abandoned and flooded wells following thunderstorms in central Zimbabwe.

And in May of the same year, at least nine others were killed in explosions in a gold mine in Mazowe (north).

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