Burkina Faso: Rescuers found an empty refuge room in the Perkoa mine
Rescuers at work in the Perkoa mine, Burkina Faso, May 13, 2022. REUTERS - ANNE MIMAULT
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Rescuers accessed the chamber of refuge of all hopes, in the Perkoa mine, Tuesday, May 17.
Nobody was there, and everything suggests that the eight miners could not have reached this room on the day of the flood.
Even if the families and their loved ones are disappointed, the search will continue to find them, assures the Burkinabè government.
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With our special correspondent in Réo,
Yaya Boudani
The atmosphere was heavy at the headquarters of the crisis committee, since the return of the rescue team.
The women, who had organized several prayer sessions, had tears in their eyes even before the government statement.
"
Despite our incantations, our prayers, we found a room of refuge empty of any human being
", repeated several times the Minister of Mines.
Jean Alphonse Somé clarified that it is cruel information that he regrets to bring to the attention of families and populations.
► To read also: Burkina Faso: a month ago, the Perkoa mine accident
“
It's not at all easy.
This is not the information we were expecting
” repeated the spokesperson for the families.
According to the government, the search is not over.
Water pumping will continue
until all galleries are empty
.
“
We are going to go lower, into the bowels of the earth, to see if our brothers are not refugees somewhere
,” insisted the Minister of Mines and Quarries.
According to him, there is a third chamber of refuge located even lower, but the main purpose is to drain all the water inside the mine.
The government is committed alongside the mine for the rest of the process.
Six Burkinabè, a Tanzanian and a Zambian are trapped nearly 720 meters underground in the Perkoa mine in the central western region, following a flood that occurred on April 16.
Since the incident, no radio contact has been established with the miners trapped in the galleries.
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